On Thursday, April 12 at around 6 pm PST I received a phone call from a "Jeremy Paxoni" in response to a Craigslist ad I had posted looking for Burning Man tickets. We talked on the phone for over an hour and the guy seemed super cool and sincere. He knew A LOT about Burning Man as well which really put my mind at ease. He explained to me that he put in a request to take time off from work but that week was already being used for a co-workers vacation time and he was denied is request. He seemed super bummed about not being able to go but so glad he found someone who wasn't a scalper to buy the ticket.
He explained to me how the process to switch tickets into my name would work. That we would log-in to the burning man website together and he would put in all of my information and then I would change the log-in information so that once it's done, he could log back in. He suggested using a third party to securely transfer the money and that it would be for the both of our protection. I was a little hesitant but the guy was so reassuring and insisted that he would walk me through every process. From transferring the money to transferring the tickets.
He stayed on the phone with me the entire time I did the Western Union transfer and then told me to call him AS SOON as I got home so we could begin the ticket transfer which I did. While I was wiring the $340 (plus $28 fee) he offered to knock down the price a bit to help pay for the fee and explained he didn't want me to have to take on too much and he was just so grateful that I was taking these tickets off of him.
He talked to me while he "went through the steps" on the website and said I would be receiving an email shortly with the confirmation info. I waited and waited and nothing came. He said it could take up to a half hour and that he would call back periodically to see if it came through which he did do. After a couple hours of not seeing the email, he claimed that it was probably because it was after hours and that he would call the ticket office first thing in the morning.
The next day he sent me a text at 7:00 am PST saying to call him as soon as I woke up. I called him right away and he explained how everything is messed up with the ticket and that they wont let him switch it into my name because he bought TWO tickets and I was purchasing one and they couldn't split the order up. He said that he had another lady interested in the ticket and was going to suggest to her that he mail both of them to me and I mail the spare to her when they came.
I then told him that I actually had a friend who was looking for a ticket also so it might work out to have her buy it and the both of them could be shipped to me. He was stoked about that idea and I gave my friend his information. She called him and feel for it too unfortunately. After he collected her money, he called me back and said that he was on his way home and as soon as he got there he would transfer everything over to my name.
I waited and waited and waited for that call. When he finally did call he made up excuse after excuse as to why he couldn't do it then. He started acting really shady. Claiming that he called or texted me when he hadn't and saying that I was ignoring him. After my friend and I realized that we had just been scammed we started doing research on him and found multiple different complaints about ticket scams.
I called him repeatedly until he finally picked up the phone and called him out on it. He then proceeded to tell me that all of these are rumors, that he sold legitimate tickets to them and they didn't work out for reasons that were in no way his fault. I tried to play his game and told him that I believe him that I just want my tickets or my money. He insisted that I would see the ticket confirmation in my email the next day.
I woke up the next day to a text message from him saying to call him. When I called, he didn't answer. So I continued to call over and over with no response. Later that day (Saturday, April 14) at around 5 pm PST he sent me a text that read, "whats your info for dough?" I asked him what he needed and he replied "name, city, state, zip" I gave him that information and left it at that. I heard nothing back from him that night. I text him again twice today (Sunday, April 15) asking if he was able to send it and he responded with "call ya soon". I've yet to hear anything from him.
The most bizarre thing about this is that he continues to answer my calls and texts periodically. He threatened that he has enough proof of him trying to work this out with me that if I call the police nothing will happen. I called the Pittsburgh police department, my own police department in California and I have filed a report through www.ic3. Gov (which was suggested by both police departments) I also left a message with a Detective Jordan in Pittsburgh police e-crimes division (412) 323-7138.
Please if you've been a victim of this low life's scams CALL, REPORT, DO SOMETHING! We need to make sure that Jesse does not get away with this any longer!!
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