Online festival ticket fraud down on last year

Less people are being conned by unofficial websites

17 August 2009

The Metropolitan Police’s Central E-Crime Unit, which investigates the most serious Internet crimes, has been pivotal in the reduction of victims shutting down 11 websites selling fraudulent tickets since September.

Reading and Leeds boss Melvin Benn has praised the work of the police saying, "The main culprits do appear to have been closed down by the police."

Last year thousands of fans were left disappointed after buying bogus tickets from the Internet or not receiving any passes at all.

The sold out Reading, Leeds and V Festivals, which are all coming up later this month, have all been targets of fraudulent ticket crime in the past with 5,000 festival-goers with invalid tickets turned away from Reading and Leeds last year.

This year, for the first time, the police and festival organisers attended a conference to about stamping out the problem.

Speaking about the conference, anti-counterfeiting expert Reg Walker said, "This year, everyone's come together to address the issue for the first time ever - the promoters, the police etc.

"That's improved the situation. We're managing to get down the scam sites much faster than ever before and the criminal infrastructure is being dismantled. We've had good successes across the world."

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