3 min read
13th June 2019

Ticket Fraud

cyber protection

Ticket buyers are increasingly being targeted by fraudsters.

Festival goers and sports fans should be wary when buying tickets online; fraudsters are getting more sophisticated in their methods to cheat members of the public, who are purchasing concert, festival and sporting events tickets.

According to Action Fraud Police website:

"Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, Action Fraud received 6,486 reports of ticket fraud.

In the same period, the total reported losses to victims were £3,344,835; an average of £568 per victim.

With lots of music concerts and sporting events taking place in summer, it is an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting fans."

And again (Action Fraud ), this year:

"Between 1 April 2018 and 30 April 2019, Action Fraud received 4,755 reports of ticket fraud.

The total reported losses to victims was £1,654,888: an average of £365 per victim.

With lots of music concerts and sporting events taking place in summer, it is an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting fans.

New awareness campaign launched with Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) to encourage informed purchases from authorised sellers."

David Clark, the City of London Police’s national coordinator for economic crime, said:

"Whether people are buying tickets for the theatre, a festival, a concert or a sports event, they need to remain vigilant and be aware that there are fraudsters all over the globe trying to make money out of people’s desire to buy tickets quickly and easily online.

If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. We recommend that people buy from reputable ticket sellers who are members of STAR."

How To Protect Yourself From The Scammers

  • You should avoid buying tickets, if they are not purchased from the venue’s box office, the promoter, an official agent or a well-known and reputable ticket exchange site.
  • If you do decide to buy tickets from an individual (for example online via an auction site), you should avoid paying through bank transfer or money transfer services, as the payment may not be recoverable; payment should be made, using a secure payment service.
  • Paying with a credit card for your tickets offers greater protection than other payments methods, such as debit card, cash, or money transfer services.
  • Consider purchasing a personal cyber protection insurance policy to help[ protect you against the fraudsters.

Action Fraud showed how easy it is to be tricked into buying fake tickets online through a series of Facebook flash advertising, in which more than 1,500 people tried to purchase music tickets from 'Surfed Arts', their fake ticket sales website.

Two men were convicted recently, following complaints made to Action Fraud who later disseminated the complaints to Essex Police, of a ticket fraud with over 309 victims; the pair defrauded the victims, by selling them non-existing tickets for a high profile sporting event.

Be Vigilant

  • Make sure the contact details of the site you’re purchasing the tickets off are genuine:
    • There should be a landline phone number.
    • There should be a full postal address with postcode.
    • If only a PO box address and mobile phone number are available you should avoid using the site, as it could prove difficult contact the seller after you buy the tickets.
    • PO box addresses and mobile phone numbers are easy to change and difficult to trace.
  • Creating fake websites with URLs similar to that of genuine sites is one of the fraudsters many tools to cheat you out of your money, so make sure the web address is correct and that you are on the genuine website. Any webpages that ask for personal or financial details should have a secure certificate, indicated by a locked padlock icon displayed in the address bar and the URL should start with ‘https’.
  • Check to see if the vendor is a member of Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR)! If they are, you're buying from a genuine company which has signed up to their strict governing standards. STAR also offers a service to help customers with outstanding complaints.

Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said:

"Criminals are taking advantage of people’s desire to buy tickets for popular concerts and sporting events, which are often sold out. This is why it’s so important that people are vigilant and aware that there are fraudsters all over the globe trying to make money out of innocent victims.

To avoid disappointment, always buy tickets from an official event organiser or website and if you are tempted to buy from a secondary ticket source, always research the company or the person online before making the purchase.

If you think you have been a victim of ticket fraud, report it to Action Fraud ."

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