Will Couke Phish Ticket/Western Union Scam Crestview Florida

I found Will Couke online - I believe it was on Craigslist. He was offering 4 tickets to the Phish Asheville Show, cheaper than others, but at right about face value, 4 @ $300.00.

I emailed him back and forth and he agreed to sell the tickets to me. I had to have a little extra time to get the money together and he worked with me, stayed in touch with me and was very understanding. I spoke with him on the phone several times and he was very nice. Even had his kids in the car with him.

He had told me he would send me a copy of his drivers license to make me feel more comfortable about the transaction, but when I asked for him to send me the DL# he was conveniently out of town and had no access to a camera etc.

He provided this contact information for the transaction:
Will Couke
1005 Martin Luther King Jr Ave, Apt D2
Crestview, FL 32536
850-902-2754

He also had a security question for me to provide - What is his father's middle name? - Answer - Christopher.

I sent the money Western Union on May 26, 2009, which was the only way he would accept it - said it was for both of our protection. It was a 29.95 fee. Apparently there was a screw up with the security question and he couldn't get the money right away. I had to go back and redo the security question, so he received the money on May 27th, 2009.

He said he would UPS the tickets overnight, then said he missed the pick up and would send them the next day, and then that didn't happen, days went by. He always had some excuse as to why they weren't sent. Then it was the weekend before the show on Tuesday, June 9. He sent me a FedEx tracking # which didn't work and then made some more excuses. Then told me he would send a refund, by personal check, which I said wasn't good for me. I wanted it sent by Western Union exactly how I sent it to him - and 330.00. Which is what it cost me.

It has been over a week and I haven't gotten a check and when I tried to google his information and put in his phone number I got this site and other people with similar experiences. The phone number was the common link. The address I have for him shows up in one other post, but everyone has a different name.

I have filed a report with Western Union as of tonight and will file a Police Report as well. Hopefully someone will arrest this scammer and others won't be hurt.

This was a very expensive lesson for a kid with no money to lose.


Dan
Moorestown, New Jersey
U.S.A.