Reminder to beware of scammers selling fraudulent tickets for Pope Francis’ visit to New York City next month. Valid FREE tickets are being distributed only by local Catholic parishes and other Catholic institutions.
The Archdiocese of New York has a special website page for the Papal visit, and is the only official website for the Papal visit to NYC.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warns consumers not to respond to any solicitation about purchasing tickets for the papal visit, as tickets will not be sold and can only be obtained through the various Archdiocese in New York State and their parishes. There will be no tickets available through any other means.
NYCONTHECHEAP warns you to beware of the website popefrancisvisit.com, which seems to be a linkfarm to questionable websites, some of which have nothing to do with the Pope or the Vatican, and may direct you to mirror websites, sites that have a similar look as the legitimate site and pretends to perform the actions of the legitimate site. Mirror sites will try to obtain personal financial information that can further harm you and your credit.
Pope Francis will be in New York City on Sept. 24-25, when he is scheduled to hold an evening prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, address the United Nations Assembly, hold a multi-religious service at the 9/11 memorial site, visit Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, and celebrate Mass at Madison Square Garden.
He also plans to visit Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia on his U.S. tour. See this Washington Post article about getting tickets for those cities.
“Anyone attempting to sell tickets is a scam artist and should be avoided at all costs,” Cuomo said in a press release. “Making certain that you receive valid tickets will ensure that this event remains joyous and festive for all.”
Ticket scams can include the selling of used tickets, reselling of lost or stolen tickets, online auction fraud, counterfeiting, tickets for non-existent events and fake websites.
Ticket scalping has proved to be an issue for events with popes in the past, according to Mashable. When Pope Benedict held Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York in 2007, the Archdiocese warned, “Thou shalt not scalp tickets to the upcoming Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium.” Tickets for that event were distributed through local Catholic parishes for free as well.
The New York Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection urges consumers to check the validity of the ticket source, avoid links from unsolicited offers and not wire transfer money.
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