Scammer takes thousands in Husker ticket fraud
Two people are behind bars after scamming multiple people out of thousands of dollars, one by buying and selling fraudulent Husker football tickets.
On November 11th, a 54-year-old Kearney woman reported she purchased Husker football tickets through the Husker Ticket Exchange Facebook page. She paid $200 for five tickets to attend the game on November 10.
She met the seller at the Kwik Shop near 1st and Cornhusker, and exchanged cash for the tickets.
When the woman tried to enter the game, she was denied because the original owner of the tickets had disputed the charges on their credit card, making the tickets were no longer valid.
A Lincoln Police investigator worked with the University of Nebraska Ticket Office and learned that 336 Nebraska football tickets, totaling $24,570, were fraudulently purchased between September and November, using at least 10 different credit cards.
All of the credit cards were Capital One credit cards and all of the card holders disputed the fraudulent charges on their card.
31-year-old Ana Rivera was arrested on November 27 on charges of identity theft and theft by deception. Rivera was employed by Cabela’s Capital One credit card department and it’s believed that is where she got the credit card information.
Rivera was also discovered to be involved in another scam when a 47-year-old woman from Alliance, NE, reported an unknown person opened a bank card in her name and charged over $18,000 between July and September.
One of the charges was a food order that was delivered to a home in Lincoln. The residents at the Lincoln address were Rivera and 27-year-old Keaton Williams.
Williams was not involved in the Husker ticket scam. He was arrested on November 27 on charges of identity theft and theft deception.
An investigator with the Lincoln Police Department obtained video surveillance and receipts from the various retailers in Lincoln and Grand Island, where most of the purchases were made. The total loss was $24, 376.
Rivera’s charges include both this theft and the Husker ticket scam.
