How to Avoid Being Scammed When Buying Event Tickets

It’s a bad day when you don’t get the concert tickets you’ve been looking for. This is probably the worst day if you are scammed and your personal information is stolen. According to CNET, this is definitely the worst day if both of these things happen at the same time – as happened to the roughly 16,000 victims of ticket fraud from January 2022 to February 2023.

With the pandemic now receding from the public consciousness and spring has arrived, many of us feel motivated to enjoy big events, from Coachella to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour to Major League Baseball, and you’d better believe the scammers have taken notice . Here are some tips to help you avoid getting scammed when buying tickets (and we don’t mean Ticketmaster fees).

Don’t let scammers play on your emotions

A good scammer knows how to play with your emotions, and the savviest ones tend to target the biggest events that sell out the fastest because they know the victims will be looking for “deals” or just want to get tickets quickly, and not necessarily take your time or think straight. Be especially vigilant when buying tickets to one of these events – if you find a deal too good to be true from a reseller who wants to immediately sell hot tickets for below face value due to a “family emergency”, that’s probably bullshit. .

If you don’t want to give up on good things, at least check them out. Ask them to sell you tickets using PayPal products and services (rather than friends and family), which protects both buyers and sellers from fraud. Come on, we’ll wait.

If they’re stubborn about their preferred payment method – if they only want to use more anonymous (and scam-friendly) services like Zelle, Venmo or CashApp – trust me, they’re trying to rip you off .

Never buy tickets from a promotional link

Sponsored links tend to rank high in Google search results because someone is paying to place them, not because the algorithm has declared them trustworthy. Many fraudulent pages feature prominently in search results , so as good as the promises made in these headlines sound, think twice before buying tickets to an event by clicking on a link, even if it appears to lead to a legitimate site such as StubHub or Ticketmaster. Instead, enter the address directly into the search bar, or scroll down to find a legitimate search result (and double-check the URL ). Make sure you don’t enter your real Ticketmaster username, password, and credit card information on the fake version of the site .

The best way to avoid scams – but also the most expensive – is to buy from an official place or from their approved retailer. If you can only afford resale tickets (although they’re often even more expensive these days), stick with reputable names – StubHub, SeatGeek, Razorgator, and Ticket Liquidator tend to be respectable. If you don’t know the site where you found the tickets of your choice, check if they are members of the National Ticket Brokers Association by checking here . The organization is affiliated with the Better Business Bureau and ticket sellers must have a customer protection policy and/or be registered with the NATB.

Double check the details

Before entering your credit card information, make sure the tickets you are purchasing appear to be legitimate. Most places offer a seat map online, so double check that the seats on the tickets you buy actually exist and that the price and description you are offered is correct. It’s easy to fake it, but a big scammer might not bother to make sure those seats in row 17-B are actually there. If a venue offers e-tickets, which most do now, but someone is trying to sell you paper tickets – or vice versa – that’s another red flag.

Last but not least, always use a credit card for purchases to protect yourself from fraud. Yes, scammers can withhold your money, but the card will most likely void the payment as soon as you file a report.

What to do if you have already bought fake tickets

It hurts and your options are limited. But first: always report scams . This will help other people avoid the same trap and hopefully keep scammers from trying the same thing again. Inform your bank and find out if the transaction fee can be waived. If you used a credit card, file a fraud report (you may also need to get a new credit card number). If you’re concerned about how much information you gave to the scammer,file an identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.