Scammed

I got scammed. I bought season tickets for the Warner Theater here in DC. It included 4 shows throughout the year. After paying and receiving my tickets, all 4 shows were cancelled. And although I received a letter stating that a refund would be mailed, the company that sold the tickets has disappeared, disconnected their phones, and no refunds have been issued. The company is called Baci Management (to warn you if you ever hear of them, although I'm fairly certain the guy took his money and ran). The President is Nick Litrenta. Just wanted to put that name out there to make sure it's known that this guy is scum. He has disappeared with all of the money, collected from thousands of people. What makes this guy think that he's entitled to this money without providing anything in return? Apparently Litrenta did this in a bunch of cities and there are a LOT of people in the same boat as me. Not a great consolation when I'm out $558. The worst part is there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do about it. Here's some of the many articles on the subject:

Nick Litrenta is a Scam Artist, Take 1
Nick Litrenta is a Scam Artist, Take 2

It irritates me that the Warner Theater takes no responsibility in this. They advertised for the company on their site and directed people to use this service. It wasn't like I found some random sketchy discount tickets somewhere- this was through the Warner Theater's website! And now they do nothing. At minimum, I think they should have some information available for the people who were scammed- like the number for the apropriate authorities to place a complaint with. Instead, they are taking the stance of "it's not our problem and you should contact the company" even though they know that isn't possible. Frankly, the theater promoted the company and therefore should help its potential customers. At least have a little compassion. Telling their customers it isn't their problem isn't likely to make me want to buy tickets for shows at the Warner again, even if this isn't their fault.

So here's a question: should I be responsible for all of the lost money or should the people I bought tickets with be responsible too? When I bought the tickets I explained to the other people the cost of the tickets and we agreed to split the cost. But I just put it on my credit card to be easier and told them to pay me whenever. If I had collected up front, we would all be suffering now. But since I didn't collect up front, it's awkward to ask someone to share in that load. Not that I want my friends to suffer, but should I be responsible for all $558 just because it was my credit card used in the transaction? The bad part is- I didn't have money for all these tickets. I only bought them knowing that I was splitting them with people. So am I now supposed to just be out the money by myself because it all turned out to be a scam? I'd be curious to know what people think. If I'm supposed to just pay for it all myself then it leaves me with the lesson to never pay for something without the money already collected. That seems unfriendly but probably the tactic I would take in the future.