Thousands of people are falsely claiming to have attended last month’s Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England when it was attacked in order to get in for free to a benefit concert being held this Sunday, according to ticket seller Ticketmaster.
People who attended the May 22 event have been offered free tickets to the Sunday show, which will feature Grande and a slew of other musicians, including Robbie Williams, Little Mix, Take That, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Ticketmaster said nearly twice the number of people who attended the original show applied for the free tickets.
“We have set aside tickets for the 14,200 people who were at the Ariana Grande concert to attend One Love Manchester for free,” Ticketmaster said in a statement. “More than 25,000 people applied for them. Sadly, over 10,000 unscrupulous applications have been made.
“At Ticketmaster we are doing everything we can – including extending today’s deadline – to ensure that tickets go to the actual fans and not the opportunists or touts who have also been applying for free tickets.”
Twenty-two people were killed and 116 injured in a suicide bomb attack on concertgoers leaving the show. Islamic State claimed responsibility. Several children were among the dead.
The One Love Manchester show is expected to raise more than $2.5 million. Proceeds will go to a fund set up for victims’ families.
In addition to the free tickets, Ticketmaster put about 35,000 tickets up for sale Thursday at $51.50. They sold out in 20 minutes.
Other people are selling their tickets on eBay for a hefty profit, fetching up to $257.50.
The company said it was trying to remove the auctions.
“All tickets for this event will most certainly be removed by the team who are doing manual sweeps to pick up any that slip through,” the company said in a statement. “We also aren’t allowing the sale of any item which profits in any way from the tragedy in Manchester. All of these items are being removed if they appear, and the sellers’ accounts will be restricted.”
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