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Ticket Trauma

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24 November 2015

By Alex Khalil

Police figures have revealed that almost 3,000 counts of ticket fraud were reported between May and October, which is equivalent to a sum of £1.2 million. Events such as the Rugby World Cup, and concerts to see the artists Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift were targets of ticket touts, according to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre.

Action Fraud expert Reg Walker said that the “number of victims is much higher”, and that ticket fraud is “massively under-reported”, as many of the victims forget to contact the police after receiving their refunds from credit card companies. Reporting the fraud to the police is just as important as seeking refunds from credit card companies.

On average, it has been said, customers who bought fake tickets lost £444 per transaction, as ticket scams are easy to fall into. Sites that run these scams will often try to look similar to an official website. Tickets that arrive when bought through these websites are refused when presented at an event, or the tickets simply aren’t delivered in the first place.

A vast amount of these cases have been linked to two companies which the NFIB (National Fraud Intelligence Bureau) recommended be suspended.

Getsporting.com was one of the sites to be shut down, after being accused of selling fake Rugby World Cup tickets, while Circle Tickets advertised concerts and sold tickets for Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran, among others. Both of these sites have been referred to local police for investigation.

To combat the dominance of sites such as these that are defrauding people of millions of pounds a year, it is our responsibility to report ticket-fraud to the relevant agencies.

For advice on spotting ticket scam sites, visit the Action Fraud website.

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