Exclusive Figures on Ticketing Fraud Released to Launch UK Awareness Campaign
- Nearly 3000 cases totalling £1.3m lost to ticket fraud over six months to end October 2015
- First time entertainment and sport ticket fraud statistics have been analysed separately
- Part of #lookfortheSTAR anti-fraud campaign
- Ticket agents and venues participating in industry-wide website and social media takeover
- Aims to raise public awareness of the STAR logo
Today organisations and individuals from across the British entertainment industry have joined forces on a new public awareness campaign to help combat ticket fraud. The #lookfortheSTAR anti-fraud campaign coincides with exclusive new figures released by national body Action Fraud revealing nearly £1.3 million was reportedly lost through entertainment and sport ticket fraud in the six months to the end of October 2015. With 2885 reports registered, that represents a median loss of over £200 per individual case. Notably, this is the first time ever that stats have been made available for just entertainment and sport ticket fraud, providing a much more accurate view of fraud in the sector compared to past figures which have included areas such as airline tickets or holidays. A high number of these reports relate to two companies, Circle Tickets and GetSporting.com, and cover such events as Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters, One Direction and the Rugby World Cup, as well as the key festival season. Led by the Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers (STAR), the wider #lookfortheSTAR campaign comes ahead of the peak Christmas ticket-buying period, and aims to help reduce fraud by educating and encouraging customers to always look for STAR’s logo when buying tickets. This identifies members of STAR, who must sign up to a strict Code of Practice, and guarantees that the ticket is from a reliable source, much like buying a holiday through an ABTA or ATOL registered travel agent. The initiative is backed by the Concert Promoters Association (CPA), National Arenas Association (NAA), the Musicians’ Union and the Society of London Theatre, as well as ticket agents, performers, venues and others within the entertainment industry. Other supporters include Action Fraud, Metropolitan Police and City of London Police. Websites of STAR members including Ticketmaster, See Tickets, TicketWeb, ATG Tickets, The Ticket Factory, Eventim and Ticketline, as well as theatre and concert venues across the country, are today featuring the campaign, including ‘homepage’ takeovers, putting the #lookfortheSTAR message in front of hundreds of thousands of customers as they log on to buy tickets. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe, City of London Police/Action Fraud, said: “Buying tickets for major entertainment events takes a lot of planning and organisation and can cost a lot of money. So when people discover they have fallen victim to a fraud – be it through purchasing tickets that either don’t exist or turn out to be counterfeit – it can be a devastating experience. The key to making sure you don’t fall victim to this crime is to only use authorised sellers and if you have any doubts about the website check out the reviews online. And when it comes to making a purchase always use a payment card and never transfer the funds directly into another bank account.” Adrian Sanders, Chairman of STAR said: "As well as cheating the consumer, every case of fraud damages the reputation of Britain's vital entertainment and sporting industries. Buying tickets from a STAR member seller will give consumers the confidence that their purchase comes with certain guarantees that protect their rights.” Rob Edwards, Managing Director, Eventim UK Ltd added: "This level of ticket fraud shows that as an industry we have to come together to help ticket buyers avoid ticket sellers who deliberately set out to defraud them. We are a proud member of STAR and believe the best advice for customers is to only buy tickets from companies that display the STAR logo, a symbol of trust that shows the company has signed up to the STAR Code of Practice." STAR members and other supporters are taking part in a Twitter campaign, with members also promoting the campaign in their own e-newsletters, increasing the reach by millions. NOTES TO EDITORS The campaign seeks to make sure that the STAR logo is known as the trusted sign of safety and reliability in the ticketing industry in the same way ABTA and ATOL are in the holiday industry. The logo is a verifiable mark ensuring the tickets are genuine, buyers will receive a refund should the event not go ahead as planned, and have an independent means of redress if anything goes wrong. About the stats Stats are provided by Action Fraud covering a six month period up to the end of October 2015, as indicated on the graph below. This period covers a lot of summer gigs and festivals as well as some major sporting events including the Rugby World Cup. Over the six month period the grand total of losses is £1,280,559 (GBP). The median loss suffered per victim is £205.00. Many of the reports of fraud related to websites that Action Fraud issued warnings about earlier this year - Circle Tickets and GetSporting.com, both of which had their websites taken down by the National Fraud Investigation Bureau who subsequently referred them to relevant police forces for investigation. It seems to us that websites such as these set out to deliberately defraud customers, offer no financial protection and perhaps even have no tickets to sell in the first place. It is worth noting that the figures only represent reported cases of ticket fraud and it is possible there are many unreported incidents as well. It is therefore vitally important that anyone experiencing ticketing fraud reports it to Action Fraud, so there is a clear picture of the extent of the issue.
| MONTH | Number of Fraud Reports |
| 2015-05 | 307 |
| 2015-06 | 807 |
| 2015-07 | 465 |
| 2015-08 | 338 |
| 2015-09 | 706 |
| 2015-10 | 262 |
| Grand Total | 2885 |
Peaks can be seen in June and in September. The June peak is likely to be due to the start of the festival season, as well as high profile musicians such as AC DC, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, One Direction and the Foo Fighters having tour dates in the UK in that month. September saw a steep rise in reporting of frauds involving the Rugby World Cup. About STARThe Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry. Charged with promoting excellent service and improving standards across the entertainment industry, STAR members work to a strict Code of Practice and a dispute conciliation service operates to help customers resolve outstanding complaints. The Society’s many members include all the UK's major authorised ticket agents, as well as arenas, theatres, producers and promoters throughout London and the UK. Between them, members of STAR sell more than 30 million tickets a year, accounting for over 90% of tickets sold by ticket agents in the primary market. Membership of STAR can be recognised by the use of the STAR logo and a full list of members is available at www.star.org.uk. STAR is running an awareness campaign on 24 November to reach as many ticket buyers as possible with information about how to buy tickets confidently and avoid deliberate scams. STAR is dedicated to ensuring high levels of customer service and ticket buyers who experience a problem with their purchase from a STAR member can contact the STAR helpline on 0844 879 4272, e-mail info@star.org.uk or write to STAR, PO Box 708, St Leonard's Place, York, YO1 0GT.
#lookfortheSTAR Q & A
What is the #lookfortheSTAR campaign about? The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of how to buy tickets safely, by buying from agents and retailers that display the following STAR ‘SECURE TICKETS FROM AUTHORISED RETAILERS’ logo: Ticket buyers will find the STAR logo on the websites, advertising and publicity material of the ticket agents that are STAR members, or on their office, shop or window display. They will also see the STAR logo on the tickets themselves, unless these were printed them at home. STAR members carrying the logo are companies working directly with venues, promoters and producers for the sale of tickets. Ticket buyers can therefore be certain that tickets are genuine and legitimate. In addition, they have the protection of knowing they can turn to STAR for further advice or assistance. What are the benefits of buying tickets from a STAR member? Buying tickets from a STAR member means ticket buyers have a means of differentiating reputable agencies and box offices from potentially less scrupulous ticket sellers. Benefits include:
- The STAR assurance on standards of service and information from members
- Clear information about where and how to buy entertainment tickets
- An independent dispute resolution service
STAR members will always:
- Clearly identify the face value of any tickets purchased and any additional booking fees.
- Refund at least the face value of the ticket if an event is cancelled and the promoter agrees to refunds.
- Handle bookings politely and courteously, giving the highest standards of professional service.
- Highlight and terms and conditions, including transferability, cancellation and viewing restrictions.
A full list of STAR members is available on the STAR website. We would always recommend that customers take the time to research companies they are buying tickets from, including checking their STAR membership. Who is behind this campaign? It is being run by STAR, the leading representative body for the UK entertainment ticketing industry, whose members account for over 90% of tickets sold by ticket agents in the primary market. It is supported by the Concert Promoters Association (CPA), National Arenas Association (NAA), the Society of London Theatre, Metropolitan Police, Action Fraud, and City of London Police. Where does the new £1.3m figure come from?These new figures from Action Fraud indicate all reports made to them in respect of sports and entertainment events from May to October 2015. The figures contain a high number of reports relating to two websites. Circle Tickets offered and failed to deliver tickets for a number of high profile music events including AC/DC, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Foo Fighters. Customers were never supplied with tickets. Getsporting.Com failed to deliver tickets that customers believed they had purchased for Rugby World Cup games. How do these figures compare with previous stats? The new figures from Action Fraud only represent reports that have been made to them and we believe there is some under-reporting of ticket fraud. Reports made to Action Fraud about ticketing include travel ticket fraud (eg airline tickets) as they are coded under the same heading. So, previous statistics issued on ticketing fraud have included incidents relating to travel tickets and holidays. These new stats are unique as they only represent entertainment and sports ticket fraud. This reveals that the problem is not as big as reported in the past and certainly appears to be a long way from the massive £1.5bn that was quoted in Parliament in 2014, but we still need to do as much as we can to educate customers to buy tickets safely and continue working to reduce the effect of sports and entertainment ticketing fraud. For a clear picture of the real level of fraud to be known, it is essential that anyone experiencing ticket fraud reports it to Action Fraud. Some recent examples of ticket fraud: Rugby World Cup touting story - 11.09.15 Evening Standard (http://bit.ly/1Qf9tvC)Bestival ticket fraud story - 10.09.15 Metro (pg 23)Glastonbury ticket fraud sentencing - 31.08.15 Daily Mail (http://dailym.ai/1Qf9Gic)Dismaland/ticket touts - 27.08.15 Guardian (http://bit.ly/1Qf9lfu)Twitter/fake One Direction tickets - 03.08.15 Mirror (http://bit.ly/1Qf8SKg)Viagogo withdrawing tickets (Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran) - 10.07.15 Independent (http://ind.pn/1Qf8xHH)Circle Tickets - 26.06.15 BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33285269)500 reports of fraud in June - 15.06.15 Telegraph (http://bit.ly/1Dqot2R)
About STAR
When was STAR formed? STAR was formed in 1997 to provide self-regulation to the entertainment ticket industry and to provide the ticket buying public with an assurance of standards of service and an independent means of redress in the event of an unresolved complaint. At the heart of this self-regulation lies a strict Code of Practice to which STAR members subscribe. What does STAR do? STAR’s purpose is to promote high standards of service to consumers and to enhance and promote the public perception of the sale of entertainment tickets and the ticket agents’ industry. STAR also offers general advice and information on ticket buying and provides a dispute resolution service for customers who have an unresolved problem with their purchase from a STAR member. STAR is at the forefront of cross-industry initiatives to improve consumer confidence and make ticket buying safer. Over the years this has included working with the Office of Fair Trading, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, Action Fraud, Westminster Trading Standards and others on ways of combating ticket fraud and mis-selling. In 2009, STAR published Model Terms and Conditions of Sale for the entertainment ticket industry which were developed in co-operation with the Office of Fair Trading. How does STAR operate? STAR is funded by annual contributions from its membership. Administration is carried out by the Council which, together with the Chairman of the Council, is elected biennially by the membership of STAR. Day-to-day functions are carried out by the STAR office, providing information and advice in relation to STAR and the operation of the Code of Practice. STAR’s headquarters are based in York. A sub-committee examines all breaches of the Code reported to it and disciplines members if it considers it necessary, with expulsion from STAR as a potential option in the most serious cases. The sub-committee is made up of Council members and independent people, with the latter always in the majority and providing the Chair. Appeals against the sub-committee's decisions are heard by the Council; any Council member with a business interest in a case being considered by the sub-committee is not eligible to vote on anything to do with that case at a meeting where it is considered. Who are STAR’s members? The membership of STAR is drawn from the ticketing industry and includes the biggest names in ticketing, from major UK ticket agencies to venues and box offices across the country. Between them, members of STAR sell more than 30 million tickets a year, accounting for over 90% of tickets sold by ticket agents in the primary market. There are also members in other industries, such as travel, where entertainment ticketing forms part of their business and affiliate members who do not sell tickets directly to the public but support and promote STAR's work. Buying entertainment tickets from a STAR member - in person, by phone or online - enables consumers to buy with confidence, as all members sign up to STAR's Code of Practice, which requires them to treat customers fairly and make all transactions clear and straightforward. A full list of STAR’s members is available here. You can also view a map of STAR’s membership across the UK here. The STAR Code of Practice is available to download here. Can anyone join STAR? There are various categories of membership for STAR. Full Members are ticket agents selling tickets on behalf of events and venues. Associate Members are those operating their own box offices and selling their own tickets - principally venues. Travel Affiliate membership is for companies principally selling tickets as part of a package, together with travel, accommodation or hospitality. Affiliate members are those subscribing to and supporting the core principles of STAR and the STAR Code, including those promoting the sale of tickets, but not actually engaged in the business of ticket sales. Applicants must meet a number of criteria as outlined in the Code and STAR's constitution and must provide satisfactory references. Each application is considered by the STAR Council. New companies or those new to the ticket market may only be granted Provisional Membership at first and a probationary period of membership must be completed before Full Membership is granted. When was the STAR logo launched? The logo was launched by STAR in 2011 and is used by members of STAR to indicate their membership and adherence to the Code of Practice. A list of members can be cross-referenced at http://www.star.org.uk/starmembers. But isn’t STAR going to be open to online resale marketplaces soon? What does that mean for the STAR logo? STAR is developing a Code of Practice for online resale marketplaces which will establish high standards of service and information for that sector in the same way that STAR already operates a Code in the primary market. This Code will be established in the first half of 2016. The ‘Secure Tickets From Authorised Retailers’ logo will not be used by the resale sector. How can someone contact STAR?If a customer has an outstanding problem with a purchase from a STAR member and has been unable to reach a satisfactory resolution through the company, a complaint can be made to STAR. The best way of doing this is online at www.star.org.uk/complaint