The Mississippi State University Student Association released a statement identifying a scam circulating through the student body, claiming Lil Wayne will host a concert in Starkville next week.
SA Director of Marketing Drew Baker said MSU students are claiming to be representatives of MTA Booking Inc. and saying they are presenting Lil Wayne from 6 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 25. The representatives advertise tickets for $41 on a website called greekfure.ticketbud.com, and according to the website, the tickets are sold out.
The website selling tickets, Ticketbud.com, is a free vending site. Baker said it is suspicious that a legitimate company, or mainstream music artist, would use a service which requires little to no validation, unlike companies such as StubHub and SeatGeek.
Baker said there are a few other suspicious things on the website which make the SA believe the concert is a scam.
First, the representatives claim to not yet have a location confirmed for the concert, but say they will pick up concert-goers with buses and shuttles. However, the pickup locations are also undetermined.
A post by MTA ambassador Kyle Holliman that is circulating through MSU GroupMes states: “Buses and shuttles will be provided for transportation to and from the event. Parking will not be available so please do not plan to drive to the concert. There will be 3 different pick up and drop off locations located in the Starkville area. These locations are still being determined.”
In addition, visiting the link for tickets shows Greek fURe, the company promoting the event, is only promoting two shows—one in Starkville and one at Ole Miss the next day.
Holliman said he was asked by Greek fURe to promote the concert.
“I was asked to be a promoter with the promise of getting to meet and kick it with Lil Wayne,” Holliman said. “So I thought, ‘why not?’ There was allegedly a real concert in the making, but apparently some stuff fell through.”
Despite claims from Greek fURe and campus ambassadors, Baker said he is still skeptical of the situation.
“I’m highly skeptical that a management company is only putting on two shows from now until the foreseeable future,” Baker said. ”Greekfure.com doesn’t look remotely professional and provides no information about the company or shows they’ve done in the past.”
The Reflector contacted Greek fURe but did not receive a response.
According to the Greek Life Office, Lil Wayne’s manager said he has no shows scheduled for Mississippi.
“The Greek Life Office is instructing chapters to tell their members this is a scam and to get a chargeback if they’ve already purchased a ticket,” Baker said.
Baker said he speculates whoever created the scam probably has “no standards and did so to gain money.”
However, Holliman claims that it was a not a scam to get people’s money, and those who purchased a ticket already can get a full refund.
MSU Police Chief Vance Rice said although he does think it is a scam, the department is not investigating the incident any further.
“No one has reported to be a victim of this scam,” Rice said. “Unfortunately, you can post anything on the web and if no one falls for it, it is covered by First Amendment laws. Unless someone reports to be a victim, we will not investigate.”
As Monday morning, the website claimed the event was sold out. However, the site is now inactive.
