Consumer News » online ticket fraud

Fake tickets flood festival season

Alan — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:57:28 +0000

As the music festival season get into high gear so will online ticket fraud risk. A new report from GetSafeOnline.org reveals that 10% of people have at some time been a victim of bogus and fake tickets. The report also has found out that over 50% of the online websites offering tickets for Glastonbury and V Festival are not legitimate.

Insurance figures and police claim that the bogus and fake ticket markets cost the UK £168m. The report was to alert people about the ways in which the bogus sites operate as well as showing how easy it is for someone to be fooled by the sites that claim to sell tickets for the bands and festivals.

There is increased hassle for the UK consumer since the festival market has become so big. There are festivals that spring up everywhere from Glasgow to Cornwall so more and more people are getting online and risking their money. Experts in security on the internet expect a big surge in fraud during the summer festival season.

The problem has grown in dimension since now the bogus sites are now paying to appear in search advertising and they appear at the top of some of the search results. Ticket fraud online is a year round problem but it increases during the music and festival scene every year in the summer. GetSafeOnline.org publishes the best ways to avoid the scams and what to do before going ahead and buying tickets online.

Before it was much easier to police as people bought tickets the day of the concert but today the tickets are available months in advance and people do not usually wait until the last minute to purchase tickets anymore. Now in the run up to the event they have access to a huge number of people.

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Ticket seller guilty of fraud

Alan — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:54:54 +0000

This week dodgy online ticket fraud took a major blow due to a landmark court case against a man who made his living out of selling tickets that he never had possession of or intended to deliver to consumers.

In just three years John Koukoullis was able to make £2.7m in selling fake tickets, but now he is the first person to be prosecuted for fraud because of his choices.

Trading under the business names of Herts Box Office and previously Direct Dispatch, Koukoullis was able to sell thousands of tickets that he never owned.

In his time defrauding people, he was prosecuted by trading standards officers on four different occasions, but it did not stop him as he chose to instead set up a new operation to take the place of the one that was closed down.

He carried on doing this sometimes delivering tickets and other times not, until the Hertfordshire Trading Standards tried a new tactic by charging him with the Fraud Act for selling tickets without stating their actual face value, laundering the proceeds, and selling football tickets without the proper authorization.

In the end his entire history of fraudulent transactions came out on trial as well as the fact that he was a calculating, dishonest man.

It took the jury less than an hour to convict him of his crimes and he will now face sentencing in August of this year with the possibility of losing everything he owns.

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Music fans need great care when purchasing festival tickets

Alan — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:28:22 +0000

As summer nears many people are looking at the upcoming festivals and concerts that come with it, but before you rush out to purchase tickets make sure that you know the source you are getting them from, as it is getting more popular for fraudsters and rip-off websites to take your money in exchange for fake tickets.

Unfortunately, this scam is not limited to the online world, but can also happen even if you purchase them in person because there are still some scam artists that can set you up with fake tickets. Thus, if you want to make sure that you get the real thing this summer, you may want to read the following few tips to keep you safe from scammers.

First of all, wherever you choose to buy your tickets you will want to look for the STAR logo. Even on a website it will be placed somewhere, and if you are at a physical ticket vendor it should be near the counter or outside of the ticket agent’s office. STAR stands for Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers and includes members such as Applause, Ticketmaster, and Keith Prowse.

Second, you need to use some discretion when you are checking out a website. Before making a purchase, even if the website looks like the real thing, compare the information on the website against the information you know about the event and double check that they really are STAR members to see if the online agent you are thinking about making your purchase from is an authorized seller.

Finally, look for a real address and one that is not a PO Box which is a dead giveaway. If you cannot find an address or if the only contact number or an email address then browse away quickly and never return.

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