Festival and gig ticket fraud on social media — £1.6m lost

What is this scam?

With 2026 shaping up to be one of the busiest years on record for live events, UK consumers have already lost over £1.6 million to fake ticket sellers operating on social media platforms. Fraudsters create convincing profiles and posts advertising sold-out festival and concert tickets at attractive prices, requesting payment via bank transfer or PayPal Friends & Family — methods that offer no buyer protection. Victims receive nothing and the seller disappears. Action Fraud reports the average loss is around £258, and research finds 55% of UK adults cannot reliably spot a fraudulent ticket listing on social media.

Example scam message

Red flags to look out for

• Tickets sold via social media profiles or marketplace posts — especially for sold-out events — carry a very high fraud risk.
• Requests for bank transfer or PayPal Friends & Family strip you of all buyer protection if things go wrong.
• 'Proof' screenshots of booking confirmations are trivially easy to fake.
• Urgency ('loads of interest', 'first to pay wins') is used to stop you thinking carefully.

What to do if you receive this

1. Only buy tickets through official box offices or STAR-registered resellers (check at star.org.uk).
2. Never pay by bank transfer or PayPal Friends & Family for tickets — use a credit card for purchase protection.
3. If you've been defrauded, report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.
4. Report fake listings to the social media platform so they can remove them.