Face of Nation : Valentine was convicted of 53 separate fraud offences after pleading guilty at a previous court appearance.
She was handed a 12-month intensive supervision order, allowing her to avoid a custodial sentence and walk free from court. The matter was handed to WA police after Victorian police received two complaints of fraudulent ticket sales.
Police said Valentine began making thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims as early as December 2017 using a number of Facebook and Gumtree accounts.
The accounts she operated featured various fake names including “Natalia Sparrow”, “Daniella Walsh”, “Hannah Jane Mathews”, “HannahVal”, “Sophie-Marie Lewis” and “Jessica Lewis”.
Hidden behind these aliases, Valentine would post advertisements online claiming that she was selling tickets to events which included a concert by US rapper Post Malone, Seasons events and the Listen Out music festival.
Would-be buyers were instructed to transfer funds directly into Valentine’s bank accounts, but often the victims never received anything in exchange. On other occasions the tickets they were sent were counterfeits or had been altered, rendering them useless.
Victims of ticket scams often do not realise their ticket is a fake until they arrive at an event and are refused entry. According to Consumer Protection, victims rarely report such offences to authorities, usually writing it off as a relatively small loss.
There is also often little room for recourse through the banks if the exchange was a direct transfer. Consumer Protection advises against purchasing second-hand tickets unless through an official re-selling facility. Often the only other way people can get their money back if they have purchased an invalid ticket is if they used a credit card and pursued the loss through their bank.
