The São Paulo Civil Police launched an operation this Thursday, the 15th, against the sale of counterfeit tickets for Iron Maiden 's concerts in the city . The British band will perform at Allianz Parque on October 25th and 27th as part of their Run For Your Lives Tour .
Dubbed "Fear of the Pix," alluding to the hit song "Fear of the Dark," the operation executed warrants in São Paulo and Guarulhos. According to authorities, the scheme cloned the official website of Livepass, the company responsible for ticket sales, and demanded immediate payment via bank transfer. [ via g1 ]
During the searches, conducted by the 42nd Police Precinct (Parque São Lucas), agents seized luxury goods acquired with the proceeds of the fraud, including a Porsche, a BMW, and 13 luxury watches. Six computers and R$ 11,000 in cash were also found [ via Rolling Stone Brasil ].
The investigations began in December, shortly after sales started. At that time, a victim filed a complaint claiming to have paid R$690 via Pix for a ticket that was never received. Upon contacting the official ticketing company, they discovered that they had made the purchase on a fake website. Police estimate that more than 600 people fell victim to the scam.
To lure victims, the gang invested in sponsored ads to gain prominence on Google. Another strategy was to exploit inattention with the URL. While the official website ends in ".com.br", the fake address displayed the domain with the extension reversed.
The official way to purchase tickets for Iron Maiden shows is through Livepass Move Concerts' channels .
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