150 people caught up in apparent scam after NYE boat party at Glenelg never happened

As the old saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Around 150 New Year’s Eve revellers found that out the hard way.

A New Year’s Eve boat party that seemed “too good to be true proved to be exactly that with dozens of partygoers caught up in an elaborate scam at Glenelg.

About 150 revellers arrived at the pier after booking a New Year’s Eve celebration like no other on popular ticketing website Eventbrite.

A ticket on the boat cost $130, which would cover all drinks and food and prime position to watch the Fireworks at the Bay.

But things turned for the worst when the yacht they had been promised never arrived.

Cameron Chappell was among those caught up in the scam and posted about the experience on Tik Tok.

He said while he was waiting for the boat, he checked his phone to find that any evidence of the event had been deleted.

About 150 people were caught up in a scam on New Year's Eve at Glenelg.

About 150 people were caught up in a scam on New Year's Eve at Glenelg.

“Everything was gone. Facebook page had been deleted, the event had been deleted and even the profile of the guy who we had been speaking to for the event is gone,” he said.

“There was supposed to be unlimited drinks, food and DJ’s.”

He said the event looked “legit” when it was originally posted.

“The ad looked too good, it was so real, the ticket looks legit, it’s got a QR code and everything,” he said.

“There were people who had come in from interstate to come and celebrate. It’s honestly just such a s*** thing to do.”

To make matters worse for the victims of the scam, it proved a hard task to find another location to celebrate.

“Everything was booked out, it’s New Year’s Eve, what do you expect?” Mr Chappell said.

Mr Chappell said the whole experience ended up making it a very expensive start to 2023.

“It’s not cheap for a night when you know you’re not going to get that money back,” he said.

“On the event it also said there was a free bus ride back to the city, but of course because it wasn’t legit, we all had to catch Uber’s home. And the Uber ride home... $200.”