After dozens of people were scammed out of a seafood festival in Phoenix earlier this month, the Arizona attorney general is warning of more apparent fake events advertised across Arizona.
ABC15 talked with more than a dozen people over Labor Day weekend who bought tickets to the "Crab and Lobster Feast," an all-you-can eat event supposedly taking place near 32nd Street and Broadway Road. When customers arrived, they found an empty warehouse and parking lot.
Now, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is warning whoever was behind that event, is apparently also advertising fake events across Arizona in October.
According to a press release, the Attorney General's Office is warning of "fantasy race events," that are advertised online as taking place in Tucson, Chandler and Mesa. The October races are known as "Skull Run," "Dragon, Zombies, Skulls Run" or "Dragons & Skulls Run." The Attorney General's office warns these, too, might all be a scam.
Brnovich told ABC15 his office is also trying to shut down the websites with the hope of preventing anyone else from falling victim to a scam.
As for the advertised races in Arizona, Brnovich says there's no reason to believe they are legitimate.
"There's nothing planned," he said. "We don't see any race permits, we don't see any sort of physical proof or corroborating evidence that these races are actually going to happen."
Brnovich believes those behind the events are in California, although he couldn't discuss many details, citing the ongoing investigation. He encourages anyone who believes they were scammed out of money to contact his office.
"What we can do...is aggressively investigate these cases and make sure the victims get justice and hopefully deter con artists like this from doing this again to Arizona consumers," Brnovich said.
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“These races are being advertised as ‘fantasy race events,’ but what appears to be a fantasy is the idea that these races will ever occur,” said Brnovich. “Consumers should beware of buying tickets for events from companies they’ve never heard of.”
ABC15 found online the races cost $30.
No word yet on specifically who is behind the events.
ABC15 is working to get more information.
