General manager Ed Taylor described scams as a ‘‘perennial problem for all major events these days’’, with would-be patrons of the event falling victim to scams involving fake tickets, livestreams and merchandise in recent years.
‘‘There are some unscrupulous people out there who are trying to scam people into buying tickets that don’t exist.
‘‘People have been buying tickets from ticket re-sellers and then they’re ringing us and saying they haven’t received their tickets.
‘‘All we can tell people is that they should only buy tickets from Ticketek, which is our official ticketing company,’’ Mr Taylor said.
One scam which was a feature of previous editions that has so far failed to materialise this year is fake livestreams.
‘‘This was a big issue in 2024 but we haven’t seen it this time.
‘‘There were companies out there offering livestreams of the event, and people were paying the fee, but then there was no livestream,’’ Mr Taylor said.
And the same will go for this year.
‘‘Anyone that claims to be offering a live streaming service is bogus, because there is no live streaming of the show.
‘‘You have to be here to experience it,’’ Mr Taylor said.
In addition to fake livestreams, the public should be cautious when buying merchandise on the internet, with official merchandise only available to purchase at the event’s online store.
Mr Taylor advised extra caution for some patrons.
‘‘The people that tend to get caught out are the people who don't regularly go to events, or people are not as computer savvy as others.
‘‘They're so excited about coming to New Zealand's premier air show they don’t spot the signs. They just go and click on a button that says, ‘buy your tickets here,’ without thinking it through.
‘‘It’s kind of a sad indictment on our world now, but that's the way it is,’’ Mr Taylor said.
Consumer NZ communications manager Jessica Walker said people who had been scammed, or who thought they might have been scammed should contact their bank immediately to tell them what had happened and to request a freeze on any cards or accounts that could have been compromised.
‘‘If someone has paid for a ticket or merchandise that doesn't show up, they can also ask their bank for a chargeback if they paid by debit or credit card.’’
