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Police Call For New Transparency To Combat Ticket Fraud
Tuesday, 19 February 2013 Written by Elliott Batte
Police Call For New Transparency To Combat Ticket Fraud

The Metropolitan Police Service have called for new legislation to be introduced in regards to ticket sales, following the London 2012 Olympics.

The force set up a special unit - named Operation Podium - to tackle the issue of ticket fraud during the Olympics, and they ended up becoming involved in investigating ticket fraud at other events too. But, with the unit apparently set to disband next month, the Metropolitan Police have asked for more transparency in ticket resale as they aim to crackdown on fraud.

The met have claimed that ticket fraud costs around £40million a year, something which has to stop - they’re now working with those in the ticketing industry to help create a new scheme to prevent music fans like you and I losing out on our hard earned cash.

Operation Podium chief and Detective Superintendent Nick Downing has said: “Experience shows that fraud is the most prevalent form of ticket crime and causes the greatest harm - conservatively estimated at £40 million per year. Criminals involved in this are also highly likely to be involved in other crimes.”

He continued: “We also know that it is extremely under reported, and there is a lack of public awareness and understanding which means that people find it difficult to distinguish between an authorised, unauthorised or fraudulent websites. For these reasons it is important that ticket crime is properly tackled and the awareness is raised on how the public can take steps to protect themselves from becoming a victim of these crimes.”

Ticket fraud and resale has undoubtedly been a thorn in the side of the live music industry for decades, and many possibilities, theories, and potential solutions have been thought up: some believe a profit cap on reselling tickets is necessary, and some think that ticket resale should be illegal altogether - while there are countless other ideas being thrown around too.

A number of star musician and artists have given their two cents on ticket fraud and a need for a new system - Paramore’s Hayley Williams has said: “The fact that people get scammed and that sucks so, I don't know, hopefully the future has something in store for all of us that can you know be good for everyone.”

A spokesman for Ticketmaster's secondary resale site Get Me In told BBC's Newsbeat: ”Fans want ticket resale, they like the convenience and our role in that is to provide a safe and secure platform for fans to buy and sell tickets.” While Viagogo's Ed Parkinson said, "We've always warned consumers of the dangers of buying from street sellers or unsecured websites which don't offer the same guarantee that we do."

We at Stereoboard are in favour of an open and transparent secondary marketplace, one which encourages all legitimate ticket sellers to unite in helping to combat the scourge of ticket fraudsters, while protecting consumers. Stubhub manager Brigitte Ricou-Bellan agrees, and says that ‘experience is that regulation does not ultimately benefit the consumer’.

Justin Bieber's promoter, AEG's Rob Hallett is also in favour of self regulation rather than any government regulation.

"Genuine fans, genuine problems happen, I've had tickets to shows or football matches which I genuinely can't get to, why shouldn't I be able to let someone else have the opportunities, especially for sold out gigs?

Stereoboard.com works with authorised sellers, and safe ticket exchanges, to compare event & gig tickets. Please do not buy from any unofficial sites not listed at Stereoboard.com as you take the risk of being scammed and your tickets not being honoured by the event's organisers. You may not realise you are being scammed until your tickets fail to arrive.

Check out Access All Areas, our scam awareness video below.

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