How to Avoid Online Ticket Fraud
(Feature Image: Copyright Gary Glaser/Shutterstock.com
The UK events and entertainment industry is on the rise. Millennials of our world are revelling in the opportunity for a mental escape from the daily grind of work, eat, sleep, repeat. It’s not surprising to discover, then, that between April 1st 2017 and March 31st 2018 there were 6486 reports of ticket fraud, according to ActionFraud. This amounts to total losses of £3,344,835 in one year. This guide aims to provide the much needed answer to how to avoid online ticket fraud.
How do online ticket scams occur?
Most ticket fraudsters will pose as intermediary ticket sellers. They will take payments from buyers through a deceptively professional-looking website and either send counterfeit tickets or take the money and ‘run’, faking reasons such as event cancellation or overbooking. They can also emerge as ticket ‘touts’, selling outside of events and concerts at extortionate prices. However they take shape, these scammers capitalise on devoted fans’ desires to attend their favourite event!
Unfortunately, apart from the required street trading license, touts are free to sell as they please. It is only the reselling of football tickets that is illegal under section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 - selling of any other type of ticket is completely legal. So, if you wanted to buy Arsenal tickets, you could go to a tout or an online ticket seller.
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How do I avoid online ticket fraud?
The plethora of ticket fraud cases over the years have allowed us to create a checklist of things to do to ensure you can attend your favourite event risk-free:
Buy from trusted providers
The number and quality of fake ticket websites operating in the online world makes it hard to know where is safe and where is going to bite you on the behind. We therefore recommend buyers purchase their tickets directly from the official seller (e.g. from a football team’s website) or from a certified and trusted intermediary seller like Ticketgum.com. Don’t buy from touts on the street, either: they may seem legitimate, but chances are the tickets they are selling you are fake, and you’ll only be disappointed to discover that you’re refused entry to see the band you’ve been waiting years for. If you want to know more about where you can buy football tickets from, here are 5 other options you may want to consider.
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Be vigilant
There are certain things to look out for when browsing that indicate a secure and reliable website:
- A secure website will feature the ‘https’ at the beginning of its URL, as well as the padlock indicating a secure connection.
- Only purchase a ticket from a website that directs you to a secure payment page.
- Read a company’s FAQ page as this may answer/consolidate any concerns you had on its legitimacy.
- The company goes into administration.
- The goods were faulty or not as described by the company.
- The goods weren’t delivered.
- There was a technical issue (processing or authorisation error regarding the bank).
- There was a clerical issue (billed for the incorrect amount/charged more than once).
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