Less online festival ticket scams this year
Police and festival organizers believe that there are less people who are being conned into purchasing tickets for events from unofficial scam websites due to an increase in police vigilance online and general awareness of the scams.
Playing a large role in the reduction of internet scams is the Metropolitan Police?s Central E-Crime Unit which has been able to shut down 11 scam websites since they begin investigating the issue of fake event websites back in September of last year.
Melvin Benn, the boss of Reading and Leeds festivals praised the police for their efforts stating that it seems as if the people who are chiefly in charge of conning the public have been apprehended or at least stopped.
The Reading, V, and Leeds festivals had to turn away about 5,000 guests last year who bought fraudulent tickets online for the event.
Last year before the efforts were made to address the problem thousands of people were left out in the dark after buying either fake tickets that did not allow for admittance online or buying tickets from a source that never delivered tickets at all.
Reg Walker, an anti-counterfeiting expert, stated that since everyone from the promoters to the police force came together over the year to target the situation the solution was easier to find.
As a result he stated that scam sites were taken down at a quicker rate than in the past and around the world the same efforts have been replicated with positive results.
