Writing for The Mirror, the Government’s Fraud Minister, Lord David Hanson, warns of the danger of fraudsters selling fake concert tickets ahead of a bumper summer of live music
Across the country, thousands of Britons are counting down the days until they get to see their favourite bands and artists live.
Whether it’s Glastonbury, Coldplay, or the Oasis reunion, this year promises to be one of the most exciting summers of music we’ve seen for many years. But while millions of us are getting ready to attend concerts this summer, the scammers are getting ready too.
Wherever there is high demand for tickets, and desperation not to miss out, the criminal fraud gangs know there is a market to be exploited. That’s when a stranger pops up on your social media feed saying they have a spare ticket to sell to the first person who responds.
Or an advert from a professional-looking company appears on your phone offering last-minute packages to one of the events of the summer. Millions of people will see those messages or adverts and ignore them, but all the scammers need is a few hundred to take the bait, click the link, and hand over their cash.
So ahead of the summer season, I’m urging anyone looking for last-minute or resale tickets: stay cautious, stay alert, and stay protected. This will help ensure that money is kept in working people’s pockets, as part of our Plan for Change.
Because the numbers are shocking. According to Action Fraud data released by the Home Office today, the public lost more than £1.6m to gig ticket scams in 2024. That’s more than double the previous year.
3,700 people contacted Action Fraud to say they’d been ripped off, with a quarter of them aged in their twenties.
Those figures show that anyone can be a victim of fraud, and for younger people who do most of their banking and buying online, the scammers are relying on them making a quick, impulsive decision, which is the reason every fake ticket offer includes a sense of urgency.
And that is exactly why our campaign is called Stop! Think. Fraud. No matter how desperate we are to go to a concert, and no matter how real the offer in front of us looks, we all need to take a moment to think: am I being ripped off here?
The other reason ticket fraud is soaring is because so many of the scams are now taking place via social media, with half the frauds reported to Action Fraud last year originating on those sites. We get sucked in thinking we are talking to real people, and doing transactions directly with them, when the reality is those sites are a paradise for fraudsters.
The Government has been urging tech companies to go further and faster to protect the people using their platforms from this fraud, and I will continue to bang this drum. And we are making progress on these issues, including announcing new measures earlier this year to put a cap on the price of resold tickets for concerts, live sport and other events, to put the power back in the hands of fans.
But we can’t combat this problem alone. We must build a united front to tackle fraud, bringing together law enforcement, industry, and government, and every sector must play their part.
Fraud is a multi-billion pound global criminal industry, using hugely sophisticated methods and technology to get us to part with our money. And we need a level of response which fits the scale of that criminality, and the damage it is doing to people here in Britain.
Later this year, as part of our Plan for Change, we will publish a new Fraud Strategy and is designed to tackle every aspect of this epidemic.
Because I will leave no stone unturned as we take this fight to the fraudsters. And in the meantime, my message to anyone looking to buy last minute or re-sale tickets this summer is simple: Stop. Think. Fraud.
Don’t let the scammers ruin your summer.