Cashman: Red River Valley Fair scammed out of nearly $400,00 in credit card fraud

(West Fargo, ND) — Officials with the Red River Valley Fair say they’ve fallen victim to credit card fraud.

Cody Cashman, the General Manager of the Fair, tells The Flag that the fair has received nearly $400,000 worth of chargebacks — or the payment amount that is returned to a debit or credit card after a customer disputes the transaction. He says he started learning about the fraud while attending the association’s Renaissance Fair.

The initial amount of chargebacks was $130,000. A week later, $60,000 more came out of the fair’s account.

“We’re still dealing with it,” Cashman said. The fair is annually held in July.

He said people were buying tickets and reselling them.

“Essentially what has happened is we got scammed,” he said. “People were buying tickets for half price and they were using them.”

Cashman said both the Minnesota State Fair and North Dakota State Fair have both had the same issue. Now, fair officials have been forced to change their ticketing process.

For those that want to order tickets online, they now have to be within 150 miles of fairgrounds. Additionally, those who buy tickets with a credit card, and type in anything wrong with the card, will not be able to buy the tickets.

Cashman said the best solution is to call the fairgrounds.

“If you’re having an issue trying to buy a ticket, call the fairgrounds,” he said. “Scammers aren’t buying on the fairgrounds. They’re not going to call in.”

The fair, additionally, will not send out tickets until 24 hours before the event begins.

Cashman made the comments while appearing Thursday on The Flag’s Steve Hallstrom Show.