Bruins Fan Finds Out Tickets Were Counterfeit, Helps Police Catch Scammer
BOSTON (CBS) - David Palandjian's Bruins playoff game dreams were dashed when he and his boys showed up at the Garden during the the Eastern Conference Championship and found out the tickets he bought from a Craigslist posting were fakes.
We were just like 'oh my God, I can't believe this' and the kids were pretty sad," Palandjian said. "Premium seats, three for $550. I set up a meeting. They were Ticketmaster knockoffs but they looked perfect it was hard to tell they were fake."
David posted a scam alert warning other B's fans about being ripped off. Then he set up a sting of his own to try and catch the con man in the act. Boston Police were standing by. Palandjian described how the sting went down.
"I texted him and said I'm here. He said I'm right out front. I called the detective and told him he's right out front. They swarmed in and boom, they got him."
Boston Police Captain Bernard O'Rourke talked about the scammers.
WBZ-TV's Kathy Curran reports
"These guys are coming in from out of town trying to make a quick buck and getting out of here," he said. "We strongly advise people to be very careful. We did make an arrest at game 3. I did see those tickets, very credible looking but when they show up at the Garden they're scanned by the device and they're not let into arena."
That's advice this avid fan is taking, but since it's the Bruins and the finals he's thinking about giving it another try. "I've been looking every day all different sources, but prices are getting a little expensive I think right now and my wife's starting to get upset," said Palandjian.
Police and the Bruins have seen several cases of counterfeit tickets.
Police say they arrested one man from New York who had about 10-thousand dollars worth of fake tickets he was trying to hawk. They're asking fans to buy tickets from the Garden, Ticketmaster or any other credible source.
