Entertainment tickets and ticket fraud

In most cases you can only buy tickets for popular events from official designated ticket sellers. If you do purchase tickets from unauthorised sellers you could be left out of pocket and with no ticket. Even if the ticket you have bought from an unauthorised seller is genuine, you could still be refused entry to the event if the resale of tickets is not permitted.

Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their operations and can set up very convincing websites that look very similar to genuine ones.

So how can you protect yourself?

• Go direct to the venue or agents website and use their official links through to approved ticket suppliers
• Be cautious of sites selling tickets that are not yet on sale or guarantee tickets to events that have been sold out for months
• Investigate the company selling the tickets by entering their name into a search engine and seeing if there are any negative comments or information about the company
• Find out all the information about the ticket you are buying. How much it is being sold for? What is the actual value? Are there any additional charges? When will you get the ticket? What is their refund policy?
• If you do decide to purchase the ticket and before you enter any personal information online make sure the padlock symbol is present and check the prefix of the web address is https. The ‘s’ means secure.
• Pay by credit card as you will have protection under the Consumer Credit Act for anything over £100
• Follow basic advice for safe shopping online by visiting Direct Gov’s “Be Secure Online”

Theatre Tickets

We are working closely with the Society of London Theatre to tackle rogue London theatre ticket agents. If you feel you have been ripped off when buying theatre tickets, please report it by completing the form and sending this along with copies of tickets and receipts to the Society of London Theatre.

Report a theatre ticket scam