Choice warning on using cardless cash for shopping on Gumtree

The warning from Choice comes after a Canberra student was scammed into buying a fraudulent ticket to the Groovin the Moo music festival using the service.

“Cardless Cash is offered by the big banks and allows you to withdraw money from an ATM without the need for a bank card,” says Choice head of media, Tom Godfrey.

“Although it might be a convenient way to share money using a bank app on your smartphone, it should only be used with friends and family – not strangers."

{loadposition peter}The warning also follows Choice’s recent investigation on the issue of ticket fraud on third-party sites which found that concertgoers can best protect themselves by buying tickets from official sites.

"Unfortunately, stories of fans being left out of pocket having purchased fake tickets on these sites are all too common,” Godfrey says.

"But this latest cardless cash scam is particularly concerning as it navigates around any existing online payment protections, such as held payments or chargebacks.

“If you have fallen victim to a ticket scam like this, we want to hear from you. Clearly it’s not in the interests of fans, artists or venues to have ticket holders turned away from venues having been duped.” Godfrey says.    

Choice says it is working with its counterparts in the United Kingdom and New Zealand to survey fans and industry representatives about their experiences with the ticket resale market, and that it is particularly interested in hearing about examples of:

• Exorbitant ticket prices
• Fake tickets
• Seats not being as described at the time of purchase
• Fans being denied access to venues
• Tickets not being delivered  
• High fees or credit card being overcharged
• Poor customer service

This latest scam comes in the wake of Choice referring Viagogo and Ticketmaster Resale to the ACCC for potential breaches of Australian Consumer Law earlier this year.

If you’ve been ripped off by a ticket resale site, click here to report it to Choice.