identity revealed? ::
:: according to who.godaddy.com, pasted below is some information regarding the Web site that was created for what appears to have been a successful scam pulled off in Shanghai surrounding a “secret” Daft Punk concert scheduled for Friday night – 3800 people apparently bought tickets over the past two days at 500 RMB a pop. This information may prove helpful in tracking down the identity of the individual(s) behind the scam (and maybe getting your money back), however, is doesn’t necessary incriminate the individual mentioned below, for a couple of reasons:
- because the whole affair has yet to be officially outed as a scam (56minus1 is still holding out hope that it’s an elaborate buzz marketing campaign for an actual performance…unlikely), despite there being such an announcement on Pitchfork; when its announced on Daft Punk’s official Web site as a scam is when we should lose all hope (or on Saturday, when we know the concert didn’t happen on Friday), and; CORRECTION: this has indeed been revealed as a fraud
- this information likely just points to the person who created this site and registered the domain; this person is likely not involved in orchestrating the scam as the info below is publicly available and easily findable CORRECTION: Sun Chen was in no way dishonestly or criminally involved with this incident, we was just contracted to build the Web site; he had no knowledge of the concert organizers’ real intent.
At any rate, here is the relevant information:
Domain: dafthidden.com
Created: 2009-01-25 08:29:30
Expires: 2010-01-25 08:29:30
Created: 2009-01-25 09:29:31
Changed: 2009-01-28 12:35:41
Owner name: Vermillion Orange (more info here)
Organisation: Vermillion Orange
Person: Sun Chen (on )
Address: XXX (erased from 56minus1 at the friendly request of Sun Chen)
Zipcode: XXX
City: XXX
State: XXX
Country: XXX
Phone: XXX
[UPDATE 1: a friend of 56minus1 who knows Sun Chen has connected with him via telephone. Chen is based in Shanghai and was initially unaware of "what's going on," saying only that he was simply contracted to build the Web site by a "British guy" "French guy." Chen is now trying to contact his client, but apparently no one is answering.]
[UPDATE 2: 56minus1 has spoke directly with Sun Chen, the previously mentioned "British guy" is actually a "French guy," who went by the name "Andy" (Da Silva?) (email: ). Chen has a mobile number (+86 13764581774) for Andy, but it is no longer working. Chen said he was paid in full for his work on the Web site. Sun recommends those looking for a refund or explanation to go back to the ticket office listed on the Web site, directions here. If you want to contact Chen, please do so in the comments below or send him a message via his . Chen assured 56minus1 that he had no idea the site was to be a front for a dishonest venture by his client (and is still unsure if its actually a hoax) and that he was just doing the work he was contracted to do.]
[UPDATE 3: There is now a "human flesh search engine" oriented Facebook group for those who have fallen victim to the apparent scam, link to "Daft Fucked - hidden concert SCAM? info and updates in here" . The original "official" Facebook page for the event is .]
[UPDATE 4: The suspected scam artists (Thomas Ramirez and Andy Da Silva) now have a dedicated to them. The photographs below were taken by surveillance camera at the ticket office Thomas and Andy rented from Oasis Property Management. Lastly, SmartShanghai published a thorough summary of the entire fraudulent affair here.]
// AjS
February 10th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Take a look at this: http://jobs.echinacities.com/ShowJob-4388.html
Lists someone posting jobs for with the name of Benjam
Ringing any bells with anyone?
I really hope we can help track this guy down as this spoils the concert scene in Shanghai for everyone.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
sadly, I suspect that daft punk will be blacklisted from playing any future legitimate events here by the powers that be… even if they were not directly invovled.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I doubt that Daft Punk’ll be made responsible in any way for this, and I also highly doubt that the number of sold tickets is anywhere near 3800… If we think about names like Armin van Buuren and Tiesto and the amount of people getting pre sale to these events in a much bigger time frame, for less money and hosted in a legit venue, then I’d say that the amount of sold tickets has to be somewhere bellow 300….
February 10th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
considering there was a line of at least 50 people on the second day of sales at the ticket office and that everyone i spoke with bought at least a few tickets, im sure at least a couple thousand have been sold thus far.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:34 am
i agree. there is no way 3,800 people bought tickets to this. when daft punk plays anywhere, its a highly publicized spectacle for lack of better terms. these guys probably made 2,000 measly bucks.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:15 am
[...] las fotografías. Sólo quedaban unos pobres amarillos, estafados, un grupo de chinos furiosos y un diseñador que no sabe dónde [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
[...] is forming to track down the perpetrators of the scam. Updates on that effort can be found here. [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
[...] is forming to track down the perpetrators of the scam. Updates on that effort can be found here. [...]
March 6th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
[...] war ganz im Stil von Daft Punk, still und heimlich, also auch ziemlich glaubwürdig. Auf der Seite 56minus1 gibt es alle Informationen und sogar Fotos der zwei angeblichen Franzosen die sich jetzt sicher die [...]