A MAN HAS been charged in Galway following a garda investigation into the sale of counterfeit concert tickets.
The fake passes are believed to have been for the upcoming One Direction and Beyoncé concerts and were being sold online.
Gardaí say that the man in his 20s was arrested after they stopped a car in the Tuam area earlier this week.
The counterfeit tickets were recovered and several mobile phones were also seized at the scene. The man was subsequently charged and is currently before the courts.
Details on the quantity of counterfeit tickets sold was not available but the find is understood to have been significant.
As a result of the investigation, and with tickets for a number of Summer events recently going on sale, gardaí say they would like to remind people that there is no guarantee that tickets bought from unauthorised sources are valid.
Less than three hours after three Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park sold out yesterday, there were apparent ticket sales on Ebay attracting bids of up to €300.
Managing director of Ticketmaster Ireland Keith English has said that they always advise against people buying tickets from unauthorised sources:
There are numerous security features contained within the tickets but the most important is the bar code. All tickets entering live events are scanned at the entry point and if your ticket is not valid you won’t gain admittance, you won’t get to enjoy the show and you won’t get your money back.
Gardai say that the sale of counterfeit tickets continues to be “a challenge” when policing concerts and events.
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