Further warnings issued about ticket scams for high-demand gigs

Ahead of the busy summer concert season, gig promoters are urging people to be wary of ticket scams.

It follows a similar warning from the PSNI yesterday.

Figures show almost £300,000 was lost to ticket fraud last year in Northern Ireland, with 299 reports made.

Police say recent examples have included Taylor Swift fans being conned out of hundreds of pounds, with one ‘Swiftie’ paying over £600 for what they thought were real tickets.

Today Lloyds Bank has also issued a warning to Taylor Swift fans, saying more than 600 of its customers have come forward so far to report being scammed.

The bank estimates more than £1 million could already have been lost in the UK to fraudsters pretending to offer Taylor Swift concert tickets.

Concert promoter Joe Dougan is Director at Shine, which runs events such as Belsonic.

He said, “There’s a lot of tickets being sold these days for high demand events where people are desperate to get tickets and they’re going onto online market places and buying tickets that they’re not 100% sure about.”

“For the shows that are sold out people will do almost anything to get tickets. We’ve seen it a lot over the years but I think it’s worse now than ever.”

“Demand is outstripping supply in a big way...with big shows being sold out in a day. There are a lot of people left disappointed. There are a lot of ways to safely re-sell tickets but I think unfortunately people are just doing with the first place they find them, maybe the first result on google.”

PSNI advice on how to spot scam tickets:

STOP - Whilst it’s always tempting to rush in and buy those hot tickets, don’t rush into buying a ticket. Do not transfer money by bank transfer and only pay by a protect payment method.

CHECK - Check the website or re-seller you are buying from before you buy. Check the events ticket re-sale policy to make sure tickets re-sold remain valid, or if there is a designated resale agent, or specific policies for this event or venue. Check the venue or the event website. If you have bought a ticket, and you are concerned about the validity of it, check with the event on its validity.

REPORT - If you lose money in a ticket fraud, don’t just shake it off, report it to police at www.psni.police.uk/report or to your bank. You can also report to Action Fraud on www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling police on 101. Further information is available at www.psni.police.uk/ticket-fraud