More Brits than ever gamble on fake tickets

With festival season approaching and people desperately wanting to partake in the festivities, the number of people driving themselves towards questionable sources of tickets also skyrocketed. 

The 25% of Brits who have been scammed equates to a total loss of £82 per victim, but that is not all. More than 50% have said that they would consider using unsafe sources with more than 20% being willing to pay extra. 

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has been found as the ’primary decision-maker’ when people seek out unconventional sources for tickets. The FOMO-mentality is found to be far more prominent among those between 25-34. 

Jim Winters, Director of Economic Crime at Nationwide, commented on the recent official Glastonbury ticket resale, saying: “When offered high-demand tickets that are cheap, or even just available, fans can easily lose control of their senses as their hearts rule their heads. High demand and low availability, fuelled by FOMO, create the perfect conditions for criminals to exploit victims.”

21% of the scams involved sellers who disappeared after making the sale, 20% involved fake tickets, and 17% were cases where the physical tickets never arrived by mail.