Burners Turn to Anti-Scam App goConfirm to Avoid Fees and Fraud

Admins of Burning Man subreddits and Facebook groups are increasingly requiring ticket buyers and resellers to use goConfirm.

Burning Man is just around the corner, and as with so many stacked festivals this year, thousands are scrambling to buy and sell their last-minute tickets to the playa. The resale market for this year’s festival has been super active, but that’s also come with the introduction of 15-20% fees on sites like Tixel or the official STEP platform.

In response, tens of thousands of burners are taking to Facebook groups and Reddit to find buyers and sellers directly and avoid the fees. But, like so many festivals this year, ticket scammers are thriving on social media. Whether it’s because of fake ticket screenshots or impersonation, it’s harder than ever to trust someone and send them money.

Search any major tour or festival on Facebook and there will be hundreds of results for “official ticket exchanges.” Often these are run by scammers, pretending to offer a safe way to broker transactions. Despite this influx, there are also numerous amazing communities run by passionate admins or moderators that want a space for real fans to come together.

Having faced an influx of scams and heart-breaking posts last year, Michael — the admin of the Burning Man Tickets and Vehicle Passes Exchange Facebook group — had enough. A few months ago, he introduced a new process in the 25,000-member group. Anyone posting to sell tickets had to include an invite code for their buyers to connect with them on the app goConfirm.

Everyone using the free, anti-scam app has gone through a verification process using government-issued ID and risk analysis similar tech to what banks use to deter and stops potential scammers. People then connect with each other, use verified messaging to coordinate, and share payment methods knowing exactly who they are talking or sending money to, along with a digital record of their interaction. They also have a fraud support team — and according to their website, in the very rare case of fraud, they can permanently ban scammers across their ecosystem.

In the last few weeks, thousands of burners have used the app across multiple Burning Man Facebook groups to safely exchange not only tickets, but parking passes and rideshare. Based on other public groups and subreddits, Burning Man is the latest in a string of festivals and tours this year — like Ultra Music Festival, Coachella, Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tour, and VELD — whose fans are using goConfirm.

Ticketing platforms for major shows or festivals like Ticketmaster or Front Gate Tickets often give fans the ability to transfer tickets to someone else. But to resell your tickets on their marketplace, there’s often buyer and seller fees ranging from 10-40% of the ticket price.

To avoid these fees, fans are increasingly using social media to find buyers or sellers, payment protection or trust tools like goConfirm, and then the ticket platform’s transfer feature to actually receive or send the tickets. While it takes a few extra steps, with the price of tickets these days, many consider it worth it.

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