Surat: Sunday, usually known for being a peaceful day, turned into a hectic race for millions of Indians last week. On September 22nd, over 1.25 crore Indians visited a single website in hopes of securing tickets for the concert of Grammy Award-winning British rock band Coldplay. However, many hopes were dashed when the website BookMyShow crashed minutes before the sale went live. Just minutes later, around 1.8 lakh tickets were sold out, leaving the majority of fans on the waiting list.

This frenzy, which engulf the entire nation, did not spare the youth of Surat. A cyber expert stated that there were 18.5 lakh Google searches for “Coldplay” and “Coldplay tickets” between September 22nd and September 25th, while over 800,000 youths struggled on various websites to book tickets.

Amid this chaos, four friends from Surat lost up to ₹4 lakh in their attempt to secure tickets. These youngsters clicked on a link to book concert tickets but were instead given an online task to complete. After finishing the task, they were directed to make an online payment via a fake website. The youths provided their parents’ credit card information to complete the transaction, resulting in cybercriminals siphoning more than ₹4 lakh from their accounts.

According to the modus operandi, these cybercriminals lured youths with free concert tickets in exchange for online tasks via Telegram groups and other channels. These fake ticket ads targeted affluent areas of the city, such as Vesu, Citylight, and Piplod. Notably, reports of such scams have emerged from across the nation.

To make matters worse, tickets have already appeared for resale at exorbitant prices. Tickets originally priced at ₹6,500 are now listed for ₹80,000, while ₹35,000 tickets are being resold for ₹1.8 lakh; in some cases, prices have reached as high as ₹10 lakh.

In the aftermath of this ticket debacle, a lawyer filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Mumbai against BookMyShow and Live Nation Entertainment, alleging a ticketing scam linked to the Coldplay concert. The complainant claimed that BookMyShow logged out legitimate buyers while allowing bots and black market operators to take over.

The lawyer also noted that tickets sold out on BookMyShow quickly appeared on resale sites like Viagogo at inflated prices. Meanwhile, BookMyShow has filed a police complaint regarding the alleged sale of counterfeit tickets for the concert. The company emphasized that it is not affiliated with any resale platforms, including Viagogo and Gigsberg.

Coldplay’s much-anticipated return to India after nearly a decade has sparked tremendous excitement among fans. The British rock band, renowned for their chart-topping hits like “Fix You,” “Yellow,” “Viva La Vida,” and “A Sky Full of Stars,” initially planned to hold two shows in Mumbai as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour. However, due to overwhelming demand, a third concert has now been added to the lineup. The Coldplay concerts in India are scheduled for January 18, 2025, January 19, 2025, and January 21, 2025, with all performances set to take place at the DY Patil Sports Stadium in Mumbai. DeshGujarat