Purple fever is sweeping Perth. Symptoms may include a red face, burning embarrassment and an empty bank account.
Thousands of Fremantle Dockers fans will not be able to cure their ailment at the semi-final against Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium on Saturday.
And while most will resign themselves to home remedies or the pub, some sufferers are still tempted by alternative, risky treatments.
Just hours after tickets to the match went on sale on Monday, scalpers swarmed to Gumtree and eBay spruiking hot seats at marked up prices.
An adult ticket to the game originally cost between $48 to $85, but those seeking a last-minute chance to get their bum on a stadium seat are being charged up to $399.
Last year, ‘Lucy’ fell victim to scalpers on Gumtree after she paid $750 for three tickets to the round 22 match between Fremantle and Port Adelaide in Perth.
She said the seller told her they lived in Albany and would mail her the tickets after she transferred the money.
But when she couldn’t get back in contact with the seller, she realised she’d being duped.
Police told her the seller had used a pre-paid credit card and couldn’t be traced, leaving her out of pocket and still embarrassed about the incident.
Consumer Protection retail and services director David Hillyard said while ticket on-selling wasn’t illegal in Western Australia, consumers risked paying significantly more or getting scammed.
“Unauthorised sellers who obtain large quantities of tickets exploit the one-off nature of events and make it harder for everyone else to attend,” Mr Hillyard said.
“By making tickets harder to come by, it pushes up the cost in both price and effort.
“There are risks that a consumer will pay significantly more than what an authorised seller is charging and may be scammed if the tickets are not delivered or the tickets are counterfeit.”
Even if buyers receive a real-deal ticket from a scalper, it doesn’t mean they’ll make it to the match.
AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the AFL reserved the right to refuse entry to games if a ticket has been on-sold.
Mr Keane said the AFL enforced the policy, but did not release figures on how many people were turned away.
