The Otago Students’ Psychology Society (PSYC SOC) has been targeted by scammers trying to sell unauthorized Wine and Cheese tickets using fake Facebook accounts.
PSYC SOC advertised their Wine and Cheese night during late July, to be held on Thursday 13 August at IBs. The event promises three free drinks (for PSYC SOC members), heaps of food, a DJ, and professional photography. Tickets were released on 29 July and sold out within 48 hours due to high demand.
However, the PSYC SOC Executive and students following the page noticed an influx of people trying to resell their tickets on the Wine and Cheese Facebook page. Some comments stated “I’ve got tickets for sale dm me if you are interested ” and “lmk if you are interested in 4 tickets, I am looking to resell mine x”.
The profiles of those who commented were private and showed little information about them. “When we checked the vendors’ names against our list it was clear these comments were fake as these people had never purchased a ticket,” said a representative from the PSYC SOC Exec. The Exec have deleted all spam comments and will continue to delete these comments if they reappear.
The PSYC SOC representative added that they “made a post the same day advising that any ticket re-sales must be done through PSYC SOC” and they would be “happy to provide refunds”. The post stated: “DO NOT sell your ticket to someone else without going through PSYC SOC. The person who buys it will not be let in. No name on the list, no entry!”
There is now a waiting list for people who would like to attend but missed getting a ticket. If someone decides to return their purchased ticket, the waiting list will work on a “first in, first served” basis.
One Psychology student, Grace, said it was “odd that a random Psychology wine and cheese page is being targeted by scammers” but is glad that the Exec team are being proactive with deleting the comments. “From the looks of it, the profiles look fake as” but they said it would “definitely suck if someone was scammed”.
It is unclear why the PSYC SOC event was targeted. Grace said it could be because of the popularity of the wine and cheese events, saying that the “last wine and cheese was so good, so surely the one this year will be even better”.