Fake ticket scams on Facebook and Twitter are booming: Big banks issue urgent warning

Bogus posts on Facebook and other social media platforms are causing a massive surge in people being conned by ticket scams, Money Mail can reveal.

The number of this type of con-trick reported to Santander in the first seven months of 2023 has more than doubled compared with a year ago — soaring by 144 per cent, according to data passed to Money Mail from the bank.

The average victim who bought fake tickets lost £107, and two-thirds of all ticket scams originated on social media sites, Santander warns.

Separate data from TSB also shows that more than half of all ticket scams start on Facebook.

Meanwhile, 38 per cent of TSB’s customers who reported having lost money to scams say they heard about the tickets on Twitter. That is followed by Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat.

Online scams: The number of social media ticket scams has more than doubled over the past year

The two banks are warning that scammers are using social media to prey on fans hoping to see their favourite band, football team, performance or festival by luring them into sending money with the promise of tickets that either don’t exist or are never sent out.

Opportunistic criminals take advantage of sold-out events and waiting lists to push up ticket prices and sell false copies or duplicates of existing seats. Many will also offer ‘exclusive’ tickets for events that are not yet on sale.

They make their ruses appear credible by setting up a fake company website or social media profile. 

They then advertise the tickets on sales platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, which allows its users to buy and sell between themselves.

The fake websites may be almost identical to the genuine company, and in some cases, the only sign that you are being defrauded is a subtle difference in the web address, according to the anti-fraud initiative Take Five — To Stop Fraud.

In many cases, the buyer may even receive a copy of the ticket they’ve paid for via email or post.

However, it’s only on arrival at the event that the scam victim discovers the ticket they had bought in good faith is actually a fake, a duplicate or has been reported as lost or stolen and is therefore invalid.

Occasionally, the scammers will tell a buyer that a representative will meet them at the event to hand over the tickets — but then no one shows up.

Opportunistic criminals take advantage of sold-out events and waiting lists to push up ticket prices

The only way to guarantee you are not being scammed is to buy directly from the event organiser, venue box office or official agent. If you are using a ticket exchange site, check online reviews for complaints or negative experiences.

Before making a purchase, the police advise shoppers to check to see whether the organisation selling tickets is part of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, which you can do at star.org.uk/ all-members. 

Younger buyers aged from 19 to 34 accounted for 60 per cent of all ticket claims, the bank found. However, those aged 35 and over typically reported the biggest losses, having paid an average of £194 — two-and-a-half times more than those aged 13 to 34.

The most commonly scammed tickets are for concerts and music festivals, which make up nearly half of all claims.

That is followed by football match and flight tickets.

However, sports fans typically spend more than twice as much as those buying tickets for comedy gigs, concerts and festivals, TSB reports. Victims lose an average of £230 on tickets that then turn out to be fraudulent.

Football fans spent £170, comedy gig goers £102, concert fans £87 and festival goers £98.

Rugby fans have been left £449 out of pocket on average, according to the TSB’s figures.

Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, says: ‘Gig-goers and sports fans are regularly left deflated and out of pocket after being duped by fraudsters on social media platforms selling tickets that simply don’t exist. 

‘Where possible, it’s always best to stick to trusted official ticketing sites rather than trusting a profile on social media — no matter how much you want to attend an event.’

Money Mail’s Stop the Social Media Scammers campaign has four key demands:

• For social media firms to be forced to cough up money to reimburse victims of scams that originate on their platforms.
• Tougher ID checks. Scammers must be blocked from using social media to commit crime.
• Make payments safe. Anyone buying or selling on social media platforms or marketplaces should be offered a secure payments system that protects them if something goes wrong.
• Penalties for failure to crack down should be imposed. Firms must publish data on fraud and scams on their platforms. If they fail to follow strict new rules they should face fines.

[email protected]

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk