Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
A Texas family gamed the Masters ticket lottery using identity theft, millions of emails
A Texas family gamed the Masters ticket lottery using identity theft, millions of emails
Link to tweet
Golf
A Texas family gamed the Masters ticket lottery using identity theft, millions of emails
By Matt Bonesteel
June 18 at 1:27 PM
Getting tickets for the Masters is something of a tradition unlike any other, in that your chances of getting them at face value are decidedly slim. There’s a waiting list for annual full-tournament badges, as the tickets are known, but the tournament hasn’t accepted any new names since 2000. There’s also an online lottery for a limited number of single-day tickets, but based on the disappointment lodged on social media every July — when the lucky few are selected for the next year’s tournament via random drawing — your chances of success seem just about as good as winning the actual lottery.
That leaves the secondary market — even if reselling tickets is discouraged by Augusta National officials — and prices can skyrocket. Just before this year’s tournament in April, SeatGeek reported that the average ticket price for a tournament day had hit $2,484, up 15 percent from 2018.
One family in Texas caught on to this and went to great, if illegal, lengths to secure Masters tickets via the online lottery and then sell them at a great profit. According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Georgia, the four family members used names and addresses from a bulk mailing list they purchased to create multiple fraudulent accounts with the Masters online lottery, going so far as to create fake identification documents — driver’s licenses, utility bills and credit card statements — to persuade Augusta National to change the winner’s mailing address. ... Once the family members obtained the tickets, they would resell them at a substantial profit. (Badges obtained through the lottery cost just $115 for each daily round.) According to charging documents, the scheme lasted from 2013 to 2017.
The four family members — Stephen Michael Freeman of Katy, Tex.; his parents, Steven Lee Freeman and Diane Freeman of Helotes, Tex.; and his sister, Christine Oliverson of San Antonio — all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Monday. As part of the plea deal, Stephen Freeman agreed to a sentence of 36 months in federal prison and paid $157,493.70 in restitution, while his parents agreed to pay restitution of $59,000 and likely will serve probation, along with Oliverson (a judge has to approve all of the sentences and could alter them).
....
Matt Bonesteel spent the first 17 years of his Washington Post career writing and editing. In 2014, Bonesteel pivoted from the newspaper to online and now he blogs for the Early Lead and other Web-based products owned by The Post. Follow https://twitter.com/MattBonesteel
A Texas family gamed the Masters ticket lottery using identity theft, millions of emails
By Matt Bonesteel
June 18 at 1:27 PM
Getting tickets for the Masters is something of a tradition unlike any other, in that your chances of getting them at face value are decidedly slim. There’s a waiting list for annual full-tournament badges, as the tickets are known, but the tournament hasn’t accepted any new names since 2000. There’s also an online lottery for a limited number of single-day tickets, but based on the disappointment lodged on social media every July — when the lucky few are selected for the next year’s tournament via random drawing — your chances of success seem just about as good as winning the actual lottery.
That leaves the secondary market — even if reselling tickets is discouraged by Augusta National officials — and prices can skyrocket. Just before this year’s tournament in April, SeatGeek reported that the average ticket price for a tournament day had hit $2,484, up 15 percent from 2018.
One family in Texas caught on to this and went to great, if illegal, lengths to secure Masters tickets via the online lottery and then sell them at a great profit. According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Georgia, the four family members used names and addresses from a bulk mailing list they purchased to create multiple fraudulent accounts with the Masters online lottery, going so far as to create fake identification documents — driver’s licenses, utility bills and credit card statements — to persuade Augusta National to change the winner’s mailing address. ... Once the family members obtained the tickets, they would resell them at a substantial profit. (Badges obtained through the lottery cost just $115 for each daily round.) According to charging documents, the scheme lasted from 2013 to 2017.
The four family members — Stephen Michael Freeman of Katy, Tex.; his parents, Steven Lee Freeman and Diane Freeman of Helotes, Tex.; and his sister, Christine Oliverson of San Antonio — all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Monday. As part of the plea deal, Stephen Freeman agreed to a sentence of 36 months in federal prison and paid $157,493.70 in restitution, while his parents agreed to pay restitution of $59,000 and likely will serve probation, along with Oliverson (a judge has to approve all of the sentences and could alter them).
....
Matt Bonesteel spent the first 17 years of his Washington Post career writing and editing. In 2014, Bonesteel pivoted from the newspaper to online and now he blogs for the Early Lead and other Web-based products owned by The Post. Follow https://twitter.com/MattBonesteel
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
