Oasis Fans Losing Up to £1000 Each to Ticket Scammers

One of the UK’s biggest high street lenders has warned that hundreds of Oasis fans keen to get their hands on tickets have been scammed in just the first month since the reunion shows were announced.

Fans of the Mancunian dad-rock band comprise around 70% of all reported concert ticket scams since August 27, according to Lloyds Bank.

Victims have lost an average of £346 ($449), rising to £1000 ($1300) for some. Those aged 35-44 were most likely to be targeted by fraudsters, comprising almost a third (31%) of all cases the lender investigated.

Ticket purchase scams are a type of authorized push payment (APP) fraud, which occurs when a scammer socially engineers a victim into sending them money. Other examples including investment and romance fraud.

Some 90% of the scams investigated by Lloyds Bank originated on social media – specifically, fake Facebook ads or posts designed to trick victims into paying upfront for tickets that don’t exist.

Read more on purchase scams: Purchase Scams Surge as Fraud Losses Hit £580m

“The fact that so many cases start with fake listings on social media, often in violation of the platforms’ own rules, underscores the importance of these companies taking stronger action to tackle scams,” said Lloyds Bank fraud prevention director, Liz Ziegler.

“Buying directly from reputable, authorized platforms is the only way to guarantee you’re paying for a genuine ticket. If you’re asked to pay via bank transfer, particularly by a seller you’ve found on social media, that should immediately set alarm bells ringing.”

As of October 7, new rules brought in by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will pressure banks to reimburse customers who are victims of APP fraud up to £85,00, unless the customer has been grossly negligent or the payment is made abroad.   

However, the financial institutions themselves have long argued that social media companies should take on more of the burden, given that the majority of scams originate on their platforms.

Last month, Meta announced a “first-of-its-kind” information-sharing agreement with UK banks, which will see the latter share threat intelligence with the social media giant so it can take more targeted action to remove accounts perpetrating fraud.

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