Lakeview bars warning about fake NYE bar crawl tickets

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - We’re on your side with a warning about tickets being sold for a New Year’s Eve Birmingham bar crawl event that bar owners say is fake.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time scammers have created fake events with fake tickets to steal people’s money.

“We’ve dealt with it in years past and had to send cease and desist letters and get our names taken off of it,” said Innisfree Irish Pub general manager Eddie Le about past scam pages.

“I pass out the wristbands and for Halloween, we had people that were trying to get the wristbands through them,” said Sophie Talbot, Side Bar general manager. “We don’t get any money for that, it’s of no benefit with us and we’ve never talked to that company.”

The latest scam is a New Year’s Eve bar crawl in Lakeview but it gets confusing because there is a real one happening.

“Someone being so excited to come in somewhere and thinking they have the credentials they need and then being told they have the wrong, fraudulent credentials,” said Le. “That’s terrible!”

Multiple bars put a warning out on Facebook to help people avoid falling for the scam and purchasing the wrong tickets.

“Couldn’t get in touch with Eventbrite,” said JD Junkins, the owner of Steel Gastropub. “Couldn’t get in touch with the creator, nothing and we said all right, fine, we’ll expose it.”

If you already purchased the wrong tickets, make sure to contact your bank or credit card company.

Bars involved in the legitimate bar crawl are now offering options to people who have been scammed so they can still enjoy New Year’s Eve.

“Show us the ticket from Eventbrite and what we’re going to do is we’re going to honor our early bird prices of $25 to buy the tickets at the door,” said Junkins.

It’s so you can still end the New Year on a positive note with a party in Lakeview. The bars included in the legitimate bar crawl include Sidebar, Innisfree, Steel Gastro Pub, and Moe’s BBQ.

“We’re all going to put our own little production on so each bar you can get access to and we’re all going to have something a little bit different,” said Talbot.

On the event page, it says: Wristbands allow “fast pass” entry to 4 bars (Sidebar, Innisfree, Moe’s BBQ, and Steel Gastro Pub) all night of New Years Eve. Wristbands have a fast pass line, but a valid ID must be presented to ensure legal age - this event is 21 and up. For those without wristbands, each bar will be charging their own individual covers.

While online pre-orders are no longer available, you can purchase a legitimate wristband at any of the bars in person beforehand while supplies last.

Eventbrite did not respond to WBRC Fox 6 as of Thursday night.

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