Thu, 01 May 2025

Thu, 01 May 2025 Bank Holiday ticket resale warning: 'I paid £140 then she blocked me'

Scammers use demand for Bank Holiday entertainment to steal money using fake social media posts, consumer groups are warning.
Music fans are being warned against buying tickets from resellers on social media after falling victim to scams during Bank Holidays. Two women, Jasmine and another woman who wishes to remain anonymous, both fell prey to ticket scammers on X (formerly known as Twitter) when they tried to buy tickets to sold-out events. Jasmine said she sent £90 by bank transfer to two different sellers for tickets to a party at Thorpe Park but never received the tickets. The sellers claimed to have 1,000 followers and sent her screenshots of fake tickets, convincing Jasmine to send the money. The second woman paid someone on X £60 for two tickets to an RnB event in London, only to be blocked after sending the money. She reported the scam to Barclays, who refunded her a week later. Action Fraud and consumer group Which? have warned that fraudsters are increasingly using Bank Holiday demand for tickets to steal money. They urge people to stay vigilant and recognize the signs of ticket fraud when buying from resellers on social media. Ty Hinds, founder of SlowJamsWithA, said he had received many messages about customers being targeted by scammers. Which? consumer expert Rob Lilley-Jones added that ticketing scams are common during popular events and Bank Holidays, with £9.7m lost to ticket fraud last year. Claire Webb from Action Fraud urged people to be careful when buying tickets online or on social media and warned against sending money to unknown sellers.
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