According to the LA Times, Alisa Yenokyan, 22, resident of Hollywood, CA, was arrested on suspicion of selling fake tickets to Disneyland via Craigslist. She was arrested last Wednesday, after meeting with undercover officers who were posing as potential Disneyland ticket buyers. The undercover officers had responded previously to one of her Craigslist ads inquiring about purchasing two adult and two kids tickets for well below retail value at $50 per ticket.
Yenokyan was accused of selling fake tickets to at least 6 different families. Most of these families did not even learn of the ticket scam until they were turned away at the gates to the park.
“I think this type of crime hits home with a lot of our victims,” said Glendale Police Det. Jonathan Owen said, adding that some victims indicated that they would remember the scam “for the rest of their lives.”
Yenokyan reportedly claimed she bought the tickets from an unknown man and made copies of them to resell on Craigslist because “she can’t find a job and needed money to survive,” Owen said.
One of Yenokyan’s recent alleged victims, decided to take action after being conned into spending $500 on fake tickets by Yenokyan, so that he and his girlfriend could take his niece to Disneyland for her birthday. Jesus Vaca, a Compton resident met up with Yenokyan where she handed him e-tickets, and a copy of her Driver’s License and cell phone number. After leaving Yenokyan, Vaca noticed that the tickets appeared to be altered and after they tried calling her and no answer and seeing some further ads on Craigslist by Yenokyan, he knew he was had.
Vaca set up a sting operation where his uncle and girlfriend and a friend went to meet Yenokyan allegedly to buy tickets. Vaca video recorded the alleged incident and confronted her. Vaca reported the incident to police and gave them the video recording. Yenokyan was eventually arrested on suspicion of identity theft, grand theft and making threats, Owen said. Even though Vaca and his family were duped by Yenokyan they were able to still take the Disneyland trip and enjoy themselves though he was forced to dig into his savings and put some other expenses on hold.
“Five hundred dollars is a lot of money,” Vaca said.
Anyone who may have purchased bogus tickets from Yenokyan is asked to call the police department’s Financial Crimes Unit at (818) 548-3101.
And as a side note, anyone who is thinking of purchasing tickets from anyone other than Disney, especially to Disneyland – please note buyer beware!
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