55% of UK music fans can't spot social media ticket scams, survey finds
26% of respondents to a survey said they've bought tickets on social media that turned out to be fake, losing £258 on average
The majority of UK-based music fans say they can't identify fake ticket scams on social media, a new research study has revealed.
In an independent poll of 2,000 people from internet safety organisation Get Safe Online, 55% of respondents claimed that they couldn't "confidently" spot if a ticket listing on social media was genuine.
Read this next: New BBC documentary investigates £1 million Glastonbury ticket scam
A further 26% reported buying tickets on social media due to their apparent low cost, later discovering them to be fake, with an average loss of around £258. Londoners are apparently the worst-hit by ticket scammers, with one in four having been swindled in the capital in the last year.
While 70% claimed that they would avoid buying tickets from platforms that don't offer protections for customers, such as refunds or replacements, 45% said they would still risk losing money on tickets if they were offered for a reasonable price on social media.
The survey references UK government proposals to crack down on ticket touts by banning the resale of tickets over face value, inferring that this could lead to an "increase" in online ticket scams.
Get Safe Online claims that ticket fraud rates are "four times higher" in Ireland, where ticket resale above face value has been banned since 2021.
Mixmag clothing capsules: Check out the collection at mixmag.shop
“Ahead of a stellar year of live events, it’s alarming to see that 55% of Brits aren’t able to spot a ticket scam," says Get Safe Online's ticket safety expert Nick Lowe. "To make this worse, the government is proposing the introduction of price caps on resale tickets exposing even more fans to fraud on social media."
"Primary ticketing makes up 94% of the UK ticketing market - resale accounts for just 6%. Instead of focusing on the 6%, the government should ensure fans have access to safe, regulated alternatives that help protect them from being scammed.”
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X