Figures released by Get Safe Online and London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) have shown that incidents of online ticket fraud in Britain rose by 55% in 2015.
Over £5.2 million was lost as a direct result of ticket fraud in 2015 according to British cyber crime reporting centre ActionFraud. Major sporting events accounted for the highest rate of incidents, followed by tickets to gigs and festivals.
The most at-risk age group is those between the ages of 20-29, with ticketholders in this age bracket more likely to share images of tickets on social media. London Police Commander Chris Greany said “The fact that people in their twenties are most likely to fall victim to ticket fraud is concerning as this is the age-group who are known to be most ‘cyber-savvy’.”
21% of crimes were instigated via Facebook, with scammers reported as often searching for posts with pictures of purchased tickets in order to create fake tickets by copying the barcode. It was also reported than 22% of all incidents of fake ticket purchases occurred on the website Gumtree.
““We ask that people only buy tickets from official sites and when buying resold tickets ensure that they are buying from vendors who have been approved by the event organiser,” Greeny said in a statement.
If you or anyone you know has been the victim of an online scam, the incident can be reported to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN).
