Police will work more closely with industry to combat ticketing fraud

Commander Stephen Head of City of London police was speaking as the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) launches a focus week on ticketing fraud which will run from Thursday, May 15 to Thursday, May 22.

Ticket fraud can relate to flights as well as music, sporting or religious events. The exact nature of fraud modus operandi (MO) and data patterns can vary according to the ticket type being offered for sale, but the broad MO is that tickets are sold to victims which either don’t exist or materialise.

The total value of ticket fraud in 2013 was just over £3,700,000, with 4555 reports. Ticket fraud is largely low value but high volume and flight ticket fraud costs more than music or sport fraud.

Flights and concerts are the two main ticket types sold fraudulently, with 22% of all reports relating to tickets for flights, and 25% relating to tickets for concerts or festivals.

National Police Lead for Economic Crime, Commander Stephen Head (City of London Police), said in advance of the week of action:

“Year on year, fraudsters are conning the ticketing-buying public out of more and more of their hard-earned cash. Millions of pounds were lost last year and millions more could go the same way in 2014.

“But, for so many consumers, the financial hit is not the hardest pill to swallow. It is the fact that these thieves have robbed them of a magical moment and deprived them of memories that last a lifetime - the chance to cheer their team to victory or call for an encore from their favourite artist in the company of family, friends and other fans gone.

“The key to avoiding the conmen and securing that ‘golden ticket’ is to only buy from a venue’s box office, promoter, official agent or reputable ticket exchange website. Taking a punt on an unofficial seller, be it over the internet or face-to-face, is just not worth the risk.

“Making life more difficult for fraudsters demands a well-coordinated approach from policing across the country, but must also be a priority for ticket distributers. 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.”

Research by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) showed that fraudsters worked through autumn and winter to prepare for the summer festivals. One fraudster said, “After six months hard work, I sat back and let the money roll in.”

During the week of action, operational activity will take place in targeted hotspots around the country. In addition, forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have their own messaging on the topic and have been supplied with promotional materials from partner organisation Get Safe Online.

Tony Neate, Chief Executive of getsafeonline.org said: ‘Criminals have a captured market of fans that will do anything to get a ticket, which makes festivals and concerts a prime target for fraud. It’s incredibly frustrating for many festival goers, especially if they’ve waited months for the event. Get Safe Online is concerned to see such a high proportion of these figures relating to online fraud. There are though some simple steps that can be taken to protect you from fraud and we would urge the public to be cautious when spending money on tickets as we head towards the summer months.’

For advice on how to avoid ticketing fraud visit Get Safe Online - https://www.getsafeonline.org/. If you have been a victim of ticket fraud, or any other form of fraud, report it to Action Fraud - http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/.

Citizens Advice’s Scams Awareness Month runs throughout May. More information on that is available here: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/sam14

Social media will carry messaging throughout the week on Twitter under the hashtags #InFocus and #TicketFraud. National Police Lead for Economic Crime, Commander Stephen Head will be holding a Twitter question and answer session on fraud on Tuesday May 20, 2014 at 11am -12pm.

Figures on ticketing fraud were calculated by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and Action Fraud.

Key findings from the NFIB’s 2013 analysis of this crime area included:

• A common modus operandi for flight tickets is for the fraudulent providers to claim at a late stage that additional funds are payable due to the cost of the flights having increased or the flight having been cancelled. When victims try to cancel, a cancellation fee is demanded. It is unlikely that flights were ever going to be provided and in many cases victims contact airlines and discover flights had not been booked.

• Concert tickets are often not released by genuine providers until a few weeks before the event, and therefore customers receive a certificate of authentication. However, this provides an MO for fraudsters - by providing a copy of this certificate when offering a ticket for sale a fraudster can convince a buyer that they will receive a genuine ticket, and they often do this multiple times with the same certificate.

• Ticket Fraud is typically committed via the internet, Fraudsters exploit the internet to commit ticket fraud by purporting to be individuals selling unwanted tickets, professional resellers or merchants, or online businesses hosting websites.

• There is a peak in reports of ticket fraud between June and August and in December. This is driven by a high volume of flight ticket fraud in the summer months and during December, and also festival ticket fraud being reporting as major festivals are in July and August.

• Victims spent £1,000 or more on fraudulent tickets in just under one fifth of reports, representing just over £2,650,000 of ticket frauds. £10,000 or more was handed over by victims in just 22 reports totalling almost £750,000.

• While a full breakdown of the type of tickets fraudulently sold cannot be provided, the following is a partial breakdown which gives an indication of key markets:

5) Outcomes from ticketing fraud investigations in 2013 are as follows:

For more information please contact:

ACPO Press Office
Association of Chief Police Officers
e: press.office@acpo.pnn.police.uk