A set of scam attempts over the weekend targetted the free ticketing system of the snow garden event at the Snowcastle.
After the reduced visiting capacity to the cold fortress saw tickets get booked up fast, posts began appearing on the Salvagers Unite Facebook page exposing efforts to sell tickets to festival-goers.
Bid to sell free tickets
An individual posted in the group on Saturday that they had four tickets for sale.
In one image of a chat posted to the group, that individual inquired about when they will be paid for an unspecified number of tickets, and asked how much the potential buyer was willing to pay.
“These tickets are free … why would I pay for them?” a resident responded. The person did not want to be identified for this story.
The individual then said the tickets were “resold” to them for “20 each.”
“Later on I don't know the tickets is free. I have to sell it also since I don't wanna go anymore due my mother sickness,” the individual wrote.
NNSL Media reached out to the individual through Facebook but didn't receive a response.
Another person said in a chat with a different resident that they were offering six tickets to the Snowcastle and said “I'm not selling but only asking $25.”
That person told NNSL that they blocked the individual and they were still searching for tickets to go to the Snowcastle.
NNSL Media also contacted that individual in question, who said they trying to resolve the hacking of their Facebook account. They declined to be identified.
Buy from website or bubble, Snowking says
In a statement issued on Sunday on behalf of the Snowking Winter Festival volunteer board, spokesperson Shane Clark said distributing tickets through the Snowking website is an important part of its Covid-19 risk management approach.
“The Snowking Winter Festival does not encourage obtaining tickets (by any means) other than from your family grouping or your immediate bubble,” Clark said. “The crew, the extremely valuable volunteers and the visitors to the (snow) garden would like everyone to respect the intent of the free admissions this year by working together to encourage obtaining the free passes directly from the Snowking website.”
A Yellowknife RCMP spokesperson said the police force had not received a complaint related to any ticket scams.