{"id":18579,"date":"2020-02-20T15:38:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T10:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/burning-man-scam\/18579\/"},"modified":"2020-04-02T16:07:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T10:37:58","slug":"burning-man-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/burning-man-scam\/18579\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers try to cash in on Burning Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, in late August or early September, tens of thousands of people gather in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for the Burning Man arts event. For eight days, the festival becomes an epicenter for creatives from around the world. The monumental installations, spellbinding performances, and inimitable atmosphere of the festival attract huge numbers of visitors.<\/p>\n

Burning Man tickets don\u2019t grow on trees<\/h2>\n

Getting into Burning Man is not easy. Tickets are limited, and in recent years demand has far outstripped supply. So that they don\u2019t get snapped up all at once, the organizers put them up for sale in stages.<\/p>\n

And even then it\u2019s not simply a case of going to the event website and buying a ticket. First you have to create an account, and then register in advance for the relevant stage of the sale. Right now, for example, registration is in progress for those wanting to create installations, shows, and other important elements of the festival, as well as for low-income guests (who must provide proof of their status). Everyone else has to wait until March.<\/p>\n\n

If you manage to register in time, then a few days later you will be able to purchase a ticket and vehicle pass. Here too, if you snooze you lose: The tickets get hoovered up almost instantly. It\u2019ll be another month or more before the next set starts becoming available \u2014 but there\u2019s no guarantee you\u2019ll get one then, either.<\/p>\n

At the same time, a trip to Burning Man requires careful planning. Because the festival is held in the desert, you have to bring all necessities \u2014 plus some cool clothes and costumes for those all-important selfies next to the installations. You\u2019ll also have to think about transport for moving around the festival territory, which is too large to cover on foot, and cars have to remain parked at the camp. Finally, if you don\u2019t live in the US, you\u2019ll have the usual plane tickets and visas to sort out.<\/p>\n

With that said, it makes perfect sense that people are desperate to get tickets to Burning Man as early as possible.<\/p>\n

Fake Burning Man tickets<\/h2>\n

Unsurprisingly, Burning Man has caught the eye of scammers, and all the more so because tickets are costly. For example, this year\u2019s price tag is $475 \u2014 and if you want to buy a ticket before the main stage of the sale but do not have an art installation, the price rockets up to $1,400. Even low-income visitors have to cough up $210, not including a vehicle pass.<\/p>\n

The official Burning Man website offers tips<\/a> about avoiding scalpers and scammers. But that\u2019s for dealing with third parties. A more deceptive scam, one that we recently uncovered, involves scammers pretending to be festival organizers.<\/p>\n

The fake website is very well done, and looks real to the untrained eye. The cybercriminals use the same colors, fonts, and design elements as the original. The URL contains the name of the festival \u2014 burningman, which on its own may be enough to convince the inexperienced visitor of its authenticity.<\/p>\n

\"Main<\/a>

Main page, official event website<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Main<\/a>

Main page, fake website<\/p><\/div>\n

The fakers even copied the ticket information section, although slightly repurposed. For example, the real site informs users that they must use their accounts to register for the selected stage of the sale. The scammers omit that detail. On the contrary, they state that tickets are available right away \u2014 just click the link.<\/p>\n

\"Ticket<\/a>

Ticket information on the fake website<\/p><\/div>\n

To hurry the victim along, the cybercriminals claim that only 300 tickets are left, and that the next batch will appear only a month later and at a higher price. The offer promises a \u201cGUARANTEED benefit\u201d of 150%, no less, though what that \u201cbenefit\u201d might be is left to the reader\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n

Clicking the link opens an order form for entering a few personal details \u2014 and the golden ticket is as good as yours (not really). All that\u2019s left to do is pay the $225.<\/p>\n

\"Order<\/a>

Order form on the fake website<\/p><\/div>\n

The offer looks very tempting. The only problem is, of course, that the ticket doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

How to spot online scammers<\/h2>\n

To avoid burning money on nonexistent tickets to this or any other popular event, always keep your eyes peeled online. Before making a payment on any website, make sure that it can be trusted.<\/p>\n