Harry Styles fans left out of pocket as ticket scams jump 529%
Concert ticket scams have soared by more than 500% over the last year, with those defrauded losing an average of £110, as criminals target fans of leading acts including Harry Styles and Lewis Capaldi.
The UK’s live music industry has bounced back after the pandemic, but gig-goers have been warned to be on their guard against ticket scams, particularly as the festival season prepares to kick off.
A record number of UK live entertainment tickets were sold in 2022, according to data from the mobile phone firm O2’s Priority platform, with sales up 43% on 2019, the year before the pandemic shut down the live events industry.
However, as concerts and festivals returned after the lifting of Covid restrictions, ticket fraud has increased. Fraudsters are focusing their attention on purchase scams, which involve music fans being tricked into sending money via bank transfer to buy tickets that do not exist.
Research by Lloyds Bank showed reported cases of people being scammed surged by 529% year on year between March 2022 and February 2023.
Fans of artists including Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Coldplay and Calvin Harris were most commonly targeted.
The number of scams reported by those attempting to buy music festival tickets more than doubled, up 128% on the previous year. The most common festivals targeted included Reading and Leeds, Wireless in London’s Finsbury Park and Manchester’s Parklife.
Scammers will target any major event where demand for tickets is likely to exceed supply, Lloyds said. There have also been increases in the number of scams related to comedy and theatre bookings, although the volume was smaller, the bank added.
Liz Ziegler, the director of fraud prevention at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Fraudsters are always
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