10K falsely claim to have been at Manchester attack to get free Ariana Grande tickets
Music fans in Britain will come together today for the event “One Love Manchester,” featuring major international acts including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Usher, plus many more.
The event was announced after a suicide bombing shortly after a Grande concert in Manchester last month left 22 people dead. Proceeds from the concert will go to a fund designed to help those affected by the attack and their families.
But planning for the event was hindered by allegations that 10,000 people fraudulently applied for tickets. Thousands of tickets for the concert went on sale Thursday, but organizers had also set aside a substantial amount of free tickets for those who had been at the Grande concert where the attack occurred. Later that day, Ticketmaster announced that more than 25,000 people had applied for those tickets, when only around 14,000 people are thought to have been at Grande’s concert May 22.
“Sadly, over 10,000 unscrupulous applications have been made,” Ticketmaster said in a statement.
In addition to the 14,200 places set aside for attendees of the original concert, about 35,000 tickets had been available for sale. These tickets were reported to have sold out in just 20 minutes. The BBC reports that some tickets appeared for sale on eBay, where they were listed at inflated prices.
Grande had pledged to return to Manchester to raise money and honor the victims of the attack.