Ontario’s Ticket Sales Act to stomp out ticket scams this July

Mar 15, 2018 | News

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto (David Zwirner)

Matthew Frank

 You may have fallen victim to ticket fraud before.

And the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is trying to prevent people from falling for another fake ticket scam as their widly popular art exhibit, Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors opened in Toronto.

Last week, the AGO warned patrons on Twitter of a fake ticket scam, telling people they “are the only authorized sellers of Infinity Mirrors tickets,” which

Although it’s standard precaution, a media spokesperson for the AGO said to acknowledge the possibility of fake ticket sales for any exhibit, patrons should be wary of whom they are buying tickets from.

“Unauthorized duplication or sale of a ticket may prevent admittance [to the exhibit],”Andre a-Jo Wilson, AGO media spokesperson, said. “Visitors who buy resale tickets risk being disappointed by ticket scams and being denied admittance.”

As timed-entry tickets went on sale in January and quickly sold out, some have turned to try to make a profit off trying to sell tickets online.  

Some sites alleging to have legitimate tickets have been offering them on websites from $35 and up.  

Two tickets are being offered on May 9 on ticket exchange website, Stub Hub, for as much as $500 for a $30 ticket bought through the AGO.

“We are reporting ads for ticket resales and we’re reaching out to [websites] selling tickets about this situation, which we’re closely monitoring,” Wilson said. 

Reports of ticket scams are no new phenomenon for Canadians either.

Online scams accounted for more than 20,000 complaints and more than $40 million in losses in 2016 by Canadians, according to a 2017 Ontario government 2017 report.

Toronto Police media Const. Caroline de Kloet acknowledges Toronto has a problem with ticket scams.  

Police, however, will continue monitor the situation as they would other crimes.

“If someone has been defrauded and reported it, we would investigate it like any report,” de Kloet said. 

“They can report it online through our website under ‘file a report,’” she said.  

Toronto Police won’t be the only ones monitoring the situation.

The Ontario government is enforcing new laws under the Ticket Sales Act that will replace the Ticket Speculation Act.  

Brian Gray, media spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, said in an e-mail the Ticket Sales Act will prohibit the resale of tickets above face value.

“The new act will ban ticket bots and the sale of tickets that were purchased using bots, cap the resale price of tickets at 50 per cent above face value, and more,” Gray said

The Ticket Sales Act comes into force this July in Ontario.

And Laura Mackenzie, who attends events in Toronto, says she couldn’t be happier to see the laws for ticket sales improving. 

“I’ve tried getting tickets to an event before where tickets have been sold out, and you find out they’re being resold for double the price somewhere else,” she said.

“It can be disheartening to miss a show just because you can’t get tickets, but I refuse to buy from scalpers,” she said.

Toronto is the only Canadian stop for the Infinity Mirrors exhibit, which has become even more of a hit thanks to Instagram

But, those wanting to attend the need not fear. There will be more chances for them to get tickets.

“More than 100,000 tickets have been booked so far and another batch of tickets will be on sale on March 27 at 10 am,” Wilson said.

The AGO acknowledges the exhibit is one that has experienced unprecedented demand and will sell a limited number of same day tickets to patrons who are willing to wait in line.

Infinity Mirrors offers a multi-dimensional vision into Kusama’s mind, and gives visitors an intimate glimpse into her main themes — a celebration of life and its aftermath — through a total of six infinity rooms.