Australasian Leisure Management
Jan 10, 2019

ACCC warns against social media ticket scams for sold-out concert tickets

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned concertgoers to take extra care online this summer as scammers set sophisticated scalping traps on social media.

Digital-savvy millennials desperate for tickets this festival season are being targeted as fraudsters focus their efforts on sold-out concerts via Facebook.

A spokesperson for Australia's peak consumer protection body advised “people should be cautious about purchasing tickets online through social media from people they don't know.

"Always try to verify the seller's identity and legitimacy of the tickets before paying for goods."

The ACCC received over 1,000 complaints about ticket scams last year, with total losses of over $380,000.

In total, scammers stole more than $100 million from Australians last year with social media cons accounting for 15% of that, the ACCC estimates.

The ABC has reported that many fans get caught when trying buy tickets for sold-out events from private sellers.

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