Buying tickets online

Fake ticket websites are a growing problem. Find out more about the Office of Fair Trading's Just Ticket It campaign (link opens in new window).

Before you buy tickets online

• Do your research – buy tickets from the venue or their authorised agent.
• If an event is sold out - take extra care. Well established ticket trading websites will be clear about the asking price, the face value and may also indicate whether or not they have actually seen the tickets.
• Look alike websites - criminals running fake ticket websites know that the screens need to look good – they are likely to be or look like secure websites .
• Search the internet - check out the forums and blog sites.

If you feel confident to buy – always pay using a credit card. If the deal is for £100 or more you should be able to get a refund from your credit card issuer if things go wrong.

Be very suspicous if:

• the event is sold out, but the website still offers tickets at face value
• the website will sell you more than the official allocation
• the website is hosted abroad. Use a search tool such as whois-search.com to find out where a website is registered.
  
  

If you have paid money to a fake website

• Contact your card issuer ask them to refund. Credit card transactions should be protected if the deal is for £100 or more, but some debit cards offer protection too.
• Report the crime to the police and ask for a crime number.
• Report your complaint to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06. They will also be able to advise you on the options you may have.