Concert and festival scams increased by 529%, Lloyds bank survey finds | Business News

Stories of live performance and pageant scams have elevated 529% over the previous yr, in accordance with information from Lloyds Financial institution.

Victims of the scams have misplaced a median of £110, although some have misplaced 1000’s, the excessive avenue lender stated.

The figures evaluate the yr to February this yr with the 12 months earlier than that.

They mirror that individuals have returned to visiting occasions after the lifting of COVID restrictions.

Whereas there was a big rise within the variety of pageant ticket scams, Lloyds stated there have been additionally large will increase within the variety of incidents involving comedy and theatre tickets, although the amount was a lot smaller.

Makes an attempt to swindle cash out of holiday makers to main festivals and live shows had been the most common type of rip-off, with the rationale considered associated to the variety of offered out occasions.

The most typical pageant ticket rip-off was for the Reading Festival and the gigs most focused had been these by Harry Kinds. Different standard acts and performers which discovered themselves the goal of scammers included Lewis Capaldi, Coldplay and Calvin Harris.

Scammers charged clients for tickets which didn’t exist and generally for gigs that had already offered out.

A standard technique concerned creating pretend web sites, sending bogus emails and working dodgy social media pages.

Folks fell prey to frauds by paying up-front for tickets which might by no means arrive. Scammers would then disappear.

Lloyds has warned followers to be on their guard within the run as much as the summer season live performance and pageant season. The financial institution suggested in opposition to paying by financial institution switch and beneficial utilizing pay pal, credit score or debit playing cards.

“Should you’re being requested to pay by financial institution switch, significantly from a vendor you have discovered on social media, that ought to instantly set alarm bells ringing,” Lloyds Financial institution Fraud Prevention Director, Liz Zieglaer, stated.

“It is equal to handing somebody money on the road and does not include the protections of different card transactions.

“Shopping for immediately from respected, authorised platforms is the one option to assure you are paying for an actual ticket. Even then, at all times pay by debit or bank card for the best safety.”

Patrons who pay with playing cards can profit from client credit score laws which says bank card suppliers are collectively accountable for misrepresentation by a vendor and might help recoup cash spent.