Festival Fraud as Ticket Crime Soars

Following on from the recent findings of the Government’s APPG into ticketing abuse, it has been revealed that customers were ripped off to the tune of £3.7m in fraudulent sales last year. Those purchasing bogus gig and festival tickets were amongst the biggest victims alongside fake flights and holiday packages, with reports of fraud peaking during the summer festival season. In 2013, a total of 4,555 reports were made, with 22 victims losing £10,000 or more.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) called upon ticket distributors to take on more responsibility. The BBC reports that ACPO National Coordinator for economic crime Commander Stephen Head said: “I am calling on the industry to take a long hard look at the way tickets are sometimes sold in this country to ensure their processes are as resilient as they possibly can be to the growing threat of fraud”.

Talking, Head added: “Millions of pounds were lost last year and millions more could go the same way in 2014”.

Research by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau suggests that fraudsters prepare for summer music festivals through the autumn and winter months, hibernating like the strange parasites that they are before coming out in force for festivals. Such creatures typically produce certificate of authentication to unsuspecting music fans to convince them to hand over cash to sold out shows and festivals. There is nothing event organisers can do to rectify the situation at that point, as they can’t legally exceed the licensed capacity for the event.

Police are initiating a crackdown on ticket fraud ‘hotspots’ around the UK this week.