![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/f5c1\/live\/70b192f0-50f5-11ef-8f0f-0577398c3339.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nThousands of young people in the UK were tricked into paying money for non-existent Premier League football tickets last season, according to an estimate by Lloyds Bank.<\/p>\n
It said that football ticketing fraud against its customers was up by around a third compared with the previous season, and warned fans to be on their guard.<\/p>\n
Banking industry group UK Finance said that tickets sell out quickly, and criminals can take advantage of people looking for offers.<\/p>\n
It urged social media firms to take more action to stop fraud, and asked customers to be vigilant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
About 6,000 UK football fans fell victim to fraud last season, Lloyds Bank estimated.<\/p>\n
It analysed its own fraud figures, and made the estimate about fraud suffered by customers of all banks based on Lloyd’s market share – it has about a fifth of UK current accounts.<\/p>\n
That means at least 1,200 Lloyd’s customers were scammed last season.<\/p>\n
More than half of the people getting scammed were between 18 and 34 years old.<\/p>\n
Its customers lost \u00a3177 on average, but for some people it was more than \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n
Criminals were most likely to target fans of the biggest teams, and supporters of Arsenal and Liverpool fell victim most often.<\/p>\n
About 56% of the scams started on Facebook Marketplace, and a further 26% began on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n
Earlier this year Lloyds Bank estimated that Taylor Swift fans lost more than \u00a31m to ticket scammers ahead of her UK tour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How did the scams work?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nCriminals create fake posts on social media or online marketplaces to advertise tickets that do not exist, often with pictures of real tickets to convince the buyer they’re genuine.<\/p>\n
The victim is then tricked into making a payment, usually by bank transfer.<\/p>\n
Once the money has been transferred, the fraudster just disappears, and the victim gets nothing in return.<\/p>\n
The problem with bank transfers is they are not designed for online transactions, so it is more difficult to get your money back once it has gone.<\/p>\n
The banks can pay victims back, but the transactions don’t have the same protections as buying something with a bank card, for example.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
What can fans do?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nLiz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said “missing out on the big match after falling victim to a ticket scam can be devastating”.<\/p>\n
She advised fans to stick to official ticketing channels and to avoid deals that look too good to be true.<\/p>\n
UK Finance said fans should stop and think before parting with any money.<\/p>\n
It said it was fine to refuse requests, and fraudsters will probably try to rush you or panic you into making a decision.<\/p>\n
You get extra protection if you use a credit card to make a purchase between \u00a3100 and \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n
Premier League advises fans to buy directly from clubs or authorised ticket partners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nA spokesperson for the banking industry body said that last year customers lost nearly \u00a386m to so-called “purchase scams”, with nine out of ten scams starting online.<\/p>\n
“Tech and social media companies need to step up and tackle the criminality which is taking place on their platforms and contribute to cost of reimbursing victims,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Facebook owner Meta and X were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Criminals create fake posts on social media or online marketplaces to advertise tickets that do not exist, often with pictures of real tickets to convince the buyer they’re genuine.<\/p>\n
The victim is then tricked into making a payment, usually by bank transfer.<\/p>\n
Once the money has been transferred, the fraudster just disappears, and the victim gets nothing in return.<\/p>\n
The problem with bank transfers is they are not designed for online transactions, so it is more difficult to get your money back once it has gone.<\/p>\n
The banks can pay victims back, but the transactions don’t have the same protections as buying something with a bank card, for example.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
What can fans do?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nLiz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said “missing out on the big match after falling victim to a ticket scam can be devastating”.<\/p>\n
She advised fans to stick to official ticketing channels and to avoid deals that look too good to be true.<\/p>\n
UK Finance said fans should stop and think before parting with any money.<\/p>\n
It said it was fine to refuse requests, and fraudsters will probably try to rush you or panic you into making a decision.<\/p>\n
You get extra protection if you use a credit card to make a purchase between \u00a3100 and \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n
Premier League advises fans to buy directly from clubs or authorised ticket partners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nA spokesperson for the banking industry body said that last year customers lost nearly \u00a386m to so-called “purchase scams”, with nine out of ten scams starting online.<\/p>\n
“Tech and social media companies need to step up and tackle the criminality which is taking place on their platforms and contribute to cost of reimbursing victims,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Facebook owner Meta and X were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said “missing out on the big match after falling victim to a ticket scam can be devastating”.<\/p>\n
She advised fans to stick to official ticketing channels and to avoid deals that look too good to be true.<\/p>\n
UK Finance said fans should stop and think before parting with any money.<\/p>\n
It said it was fine to refuse requests, and fraudsters will probably try to rush you or panic you into making a decision.<\/p>\n
You get extra protection if you use a credit card to make a purchase between \u00a3100 and \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n
Premier League advises fans to buy directly from clubs or authorised ticket partners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A spokesperson for the banking industry body said that last year customers lost nearly \u00a386m to so-called “purchase scams”, with nine out of ten scams starting online.<\/p>\n
“Tech and social media companies need to step up and tackle the criminality which is taking place on their platforms and contribute to cost of reimbursing victims,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Facebook owner Meta and X were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n