TikTok user recounts New Year’s Eve yacht party scam that left revellers high and dry

An Adelaide man has taken to social media to describe a disastrous experience with scammers on New Year’s Eve, saying he and more than 100 other revellers were conned by a fake yacht party.

TikTok user Jayden Clark said he paid more than $100 for a ticket for a boat party which was supposed to be picking up a large group of people at Glenelg shortly before the beachside suburb’s popular fireworks display.

“It was supposed to be all-inclusive drinks, unlimited, with some food, a DJ — it would be amazing, we would be on the water to see the fireworks show,” he said in a video posted on the social media platform.

Mr Clark filmed a large group of people waiting around to be picked up.

But he said the excitement turned to dismay, as they realised they had been scammed when they discovered the event — listed on Eventbrite as “NYE Boat Party Holdfast Bay” — had been taken off the self-service ticket purchasing platform.

“We arrived at 8pm, the boat was supposed to leave at 8:30pm, and essentially slowly more and more people started to arrive. There’s no boat,” he said.

“We started to freak out a little and we … were all trying to figure out what the hell was happening.”

SA Police said it had received reports about the incident.

Mr Clark said, in hindsight, the event appeared “a little too good to be true” — but there was initially nothing obviously fraudulent about it.

He estimated that a total of $12,000 had been lost to the scam, and said that figure did not include the Uber fares of some who had travelled to Glenelg for the event.

“Everything gone. At this point, we’ve all come to the conclusion we’ve been scammed.”

Eventbrite was contacted for comment, but said it could not discuss individual events.

“We do not handle media credentials or other press requests for individual events – you’ll need to reach out to the event creator about those,” it said.

Eventbrite’s website listed the organiser as “Kennedy Boat Hire”, but the profile page appears to have since been been deleted.

“A good friend of mine … who’d flown down from Melbourne for this event, he had direct contact with the event organiser … who had actually deleted his profile as well,” Mr Clark told the ABC.

He said the deception was sophisticated, insofar as the scammer used “boat pictures and a profile associated with an ABN for a boat company”.

Mr Clark said it was disappointing that Eventbrite had so far not directly responded to the concerns of, and complaints from, customers — including those who had requested refunds.

“They need to re-evaluate some sort of identification process for future events and event organisers, I think it’s quite shocking that someone can run a ticketed event to this scale without having to provide any ID,” he said.

“I know at least 30 people have disputed officially with Eventbrite … [and] there has been a police report filed.

“I feel that there should be, at minimal, a refund but some people honestly do deserve more compensation for this.”

Real estate agent ‘in the same boat’

Adelaide Hills real estate agent Callum Kennedy said he registered a similar, but not identical, business name to the one linked to the scam “about a year or two ago”, and said his identity appeared to have been used.

“I’m in the same boat — if not worse. Everyone’s spent $130 to get there but the way this could impact me, it’s going to be a lot more than $130,” he said.

“I’ve already has one or two messages from people who have been scammed, and it tarnishes my name and reputation.”

The 23-year-old said he had not done so yet, but he intends to make a formal report to police.

He said the first time he became aware of the event at Glenelg was before Christmas, when he was contacted by a friend asking him if he was the organiser.

He said, after telling him he had not heard of it, he did not think of it again until yesterday.

“New Year’s Day, I got a message — it was actually sent to me at 2am — from someone who must have been scammed, saying, ‘Hope you had a great New Year’s, but you ruined mine and I want my money back’,” he said.

“Whoever’s done this has been quite smart and thought it out prior, searched up local businesses that are registered in Adelaide as boat hire, and I was the unlucky one they chose.

“My details are easy to get … I’ve had other fake profiles made in the past.”

Mr Kennedy’s mother Samantha, who also runs a business, said that, ironically, the family had just got back from a boat trip when they were notified of the scam.

“We’re appalled, we’re absolutely appalled. We work hard for every dollar we’ve got and for some scammer to do this to good hardworking people is just absolutely deplorable,” she said.

“This is daylight robbery … it would be the worst thing in the world to have money stolen from you in such a deceitful way.”