The plague of ghost tickets. You pay and the seller disappears with the cash

UK Finance even issued a special warning for people buying tickets to the Olympic Games and Taylor Swift concerts to be careful and showed particular caution.

Shopping fraud – the numbers can be terrifying

Last year, ticket purchase fraud reached a new record high. Overall, criminals stole £1.17 billion, according to the banking lobby group's annual report. It is true that it is slightly less than in 2022, which is a bit more optimistic and heralds changes for the better. However, in 2023, consumers lost £86 million to shopping fraud alone. In short, they paid for something they never received. There were 156,000 cases of such fraud officially recorded.

However, UK Finance says the use of online platforms continues to expose people to fraud. The office appealed to technology companies to make more efforts to ensure the safety of users.

Every year we see a change in the fraud cycle. The Olympics and Taylor Swift are two of the biggest examples this year.

– said Ben Donaldson, director of economic crime at UK Finance.

According to Lloyds Bank, Taylor Swift fans lost a total of £1 million to fraudulent online ticket sales in April alone. Let us remind you that the singer's tour starts in July. Most often, fraudsters convinced victims to pay for tickets by bank transfer, bypassing the official website of the event.

Tickets for large events such as the Olympic Games, Euro 2024, and concerts sell out quickly. People often look for better deals online so as not to miss out on a purchase. Criminals use this as an opportunity to persuade you to buy tickets that do not exist or are fake.

– says Andy McDonald from UK Finance.

New regulations are due to come into force in October, stating that British payment service providers will, in most cases, have to refund money to customers who have fallen victim to payment services.

Some simple tips to avoid fraud

1. Buy tickets only from the official event website
2. Google isn't always the best place to search. Unauthorized sellers can get to the top of search results using ads.
3. pay attention to STAR logowhich means that the seller is authorized and belongs to the Association of Ticket Agents and Sellers.
4. Avoid paying by transfer, if you buy from unknown sellers. A credit card or services like PayPal give you a better chance of getting your money back.
5. Beware of e-mails, text messages and advertisements with suspiciously attractive prices for events that are not cheap.

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