Ticket fraud up 38% in UK

The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) has warned that ticket fraud in the UK continues to increase, as the ticketing industry body celebrates its 20th year in business.

New data released today by STAR and Action Fraud, the UK’s national cybercrime reporting centre, reveal there were 3,973 reported instances of ticket fraud in Britain over a six-month period in 2017 – over a thousand more than the 2,885 reported in the same period in 2015, a near 38% increase in two years.

The average value of loss, however, declined slightly, to £195.

“What these latest figures show is just how important it is to have an organisation like STAR in place,” comments Adrian Sanders, the association’s chairman. “Sadly, customers are continuing to fall prey to deliberate fraudsters and therefore need to know exactly where they should purchase tickets from safely. Despite the considerable advances in ticket fraud prevention, some customers are still too easily being tricked.

“Customers are still too easily being tricked”

“Purchasing from a STAR member ensures you are buying from a company that has signed up to the high standards of our code. It also means you have somewhere to turn to in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.”

In April, STAR announced more than 1,500 people had tried to buy tickets from a fake ticket agency, Surfed Arts, set up by it, Action Fraud and the City of London police.

STAR held its inaugural meeting in December 1997, and began its work as the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry in 1998. Members of STAR, which include every major authorised ticket agency in the UK, agree and work to a strict code of practice.

Commenting on its 20th anniversary, which also sees STAR roll out a new website, chief executive Jonathan Brown says: “The ticketing industry has evolved enormously over the past twenty years, but the core values of what STAR was founded on remain unchanged. Customers deserve the very highest standards when it comes to purchasing tickets, and the work STAR has done, and continues to do, ensures that its members remain reputable and accountable for every transaction.”

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