Viagogo Fake Travis Tickets scam revealed
Ticket resellers – so called secondary ticketers – are the broken link in the chain that connects fans to the artists they love as this Viagogo fake Travis tickets scam illustrates.
Viagogo Fake Travis Tickets scam revealed
by CHRIS CASTLE via Music Tech Policy
The Daily Record reports that once again, massive ticket fraud is occurring on “the dodgy site” Viagogo this time around Scots artist Travis. (StubHub and Viagogo are affiliates under StubHub Holdings.)
Scots music fans are being targeted in massive ticket scams on tout site Viagogo, which is allowing thousands of briefs to be sold by international con artists.
The Daily Record has evidence of a potential fraud that seeks to rip off fans of Scots act Travis and other big shows at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, such as Premier League Darts, Peter Kay and Disney on Ice. [Viagogo users] registered in Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia and America are using Viagogo for “spec selling” – meaning they’re flogging tickets they don’t possess – for Hydro shows.
The touts are listing tickets for more than double face value, meaning they pocket the extra cash and Viagogo nets a hefty, inflated commission for every customer duped into buying on the site. The tickets we have found are almost all still available on the primary sales site, Ticketmaster, at face value….The sales site also breaches the law by listing them. Several days after the Daily Record notified Viagogo about the huge volume of scam tickets, the platform finally removed those of [one spec ticket seller] – but many were allowed to remain on offer to unsuspecting victims.
This time it’s different–Viagogo has attracted the attention of a member of the Scottish Parliament in th form of Pete Wishart. If that name is familiar, it may be because he was formerly keyboards for Runrig. Oopsie…
Pete is quoted in the Daily Record on the speculative ticketing crisis:
“It is obscene these fraudsters, using websites such as Viagogo, are still able to so blatantly exploit those who simply wish to see their favourite acts live. I welcome the Government’s plans for a new consultation and I hope this marks the beginning of the end to this immoral practice.
“But this is a business rife with highly sophisticated criminals, and cracking down on them will be tough. Any consultation, therefore, needs to be full and thorough, in collaboration with all relevant parties, and followed by swift action.
“Going forward, I will be continuing to push for MPs to be given a parliamentary debate on this issue.”
The Daily Record also reports that Viagogo was the subject of an investigation into speculative ticketing sales in the UK.
Adam Webb, of campaign group FanFair Alliance, said: “It’s a complete scam. What our investigation demonstrates is that a substantial number of tickets being touted for profit on Viagogo have never been bought in the first place.
“They are encouraging these sellers to rip off audiences for the Hydro and other big UK venues by illegally listing tens of thousands of tickets in this way. If this was happening [in brick and mortar stores], a business like Viagogo would’ve been shut down yesterday.”
Webb said he was stunned at the brazen refusal of Viagogo to take down the rogue listings – particularly as the Labour Government is expected to soon announce a new consultation on UK ticketing reform. He said: “The only solution is for the [UK’s] Labour Government to make good on their commitment to introduce and enforce new legislation that prohibits the resale of tickets for profit, and in a way that protects fans and puts them back at the heart of live music.”
