Busted: Disney World Tickets Fraud Ring

The Secret Service has busted a fraud ring involving Disney World tickets. Allegedly, the perpetrators were using stolen credit card information to purchase large orders of Disney tickets. How big were the orders? There was over $360,000 in fraudulent charges. What good are that many tickets to just a few people you might ask. Well, there is a re-sale industry for attraction tickets, especially Disney World theme park tickets, which are on the more expensive end of the market. So, not only were people being ripped off on the front end of this scam with their credit cards, other people were then being ripped off on the back end. Once the tickets are linked to the fraudulent charges, those tickets will be immediately voided out. (Story at Orlando's WESH.com)

This story is just another example of why you should never purchase your Disney World tickets from a private person. If the tickets were purchased legitimately, and have never been used, then that's the only scenario where you would be safe. But, is it ever worth the risk? We don't think it is. Purchase your tickets directly from the theme park, or from a 3rd party company that is established in the Orlando area, has a brick and mortar location, and has a positive and long-standing reputation with the Better Business Bureau.

A popular question we often get is why can't used tickets be bought at a discount. At first glance, it seems like a good idea. For example, say someone bought a 7 Day Park Hopper ticket, and only used 3 days. They are willing to sell you the ticket for less than half the original price. The problem is that Disney does not allow tickets to be transferred from one individual to another. To ensure people aren't doing this, they have a finger print scanning system. The first time a ticket is used the system will record the fingerprint of the individual using it. After that, only that individual will be able to use that ticket for admission.

If you're planning a Disney World vacation, then we hope we've given you some good advice. If you have any questions, please let us know!