Iron Maiden Fans + Others Get Duped, Taught Lesson From Fake Secondary Ticketing Site
Iron Maiden have been one of the more vigilant bands in trying to thwart the secondary sales of their tickets, especially in Europe, but there are still some fans who are getting burned by going outside their system. Luckily, those recently searching for tickets via Surfed Arts were taught a lesson rather than watching their concert-going dollar go up in smoke.
According to Music Week, The City of London Police and Action Fraud in partnership with Get Safe Online and the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers helped to set up Surfed Arts with the goal of showing members of the public just how easy it is to get tricked into buying fake tickets.
During a series of Facebook flash sales, Surfed Arts targeted fans of Adele in London, Ed Sheeran in Manchester, Iron Maiden in Birmingham, Coldplay in Cardiff and Bruno Mars in Leeds -- all big shows for U.K. music fans -- with the lure of tickets available for said shows. In total, over 1,500 people tried to buy their tickets for the dates via Surfed Arts, only to be told that they were not able to purchase tickets to the event and advised on how to protect themselves from falling victim to real ticket fraud in the future.
According to London's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, a report states that more than 21,000 people have fallen victim to ticket fraud in the last three years, with the majority of the reports of fraud coming from alleged secondary ticket sources.
City Of London Police's National Coordinator for Economic Crime, Temporary Commander Dave Clark, said, "No matter what you're buying a ticket for: a concert, a sports event or a flight, you need to remain vigilant and be aware that there are fraudsters all over the globe trying to make money out of people's desire to buy tickets quickly and easily online. Always buy tickets from an official events organizer or website and if you are tempted to buy from a secondary ticket source, always research the company or the person online before making the purchase. Our fake web site Surfed Arts was put together to show just how easy it is to become a victim and we want to help to change consumers' online behavior so that they don't fall victim to real fraudsters in the future."
Iron Maiden started a program last fall where concertgoers were asked to present an ID and credit card when they arrive at concert venues rather than the traditional paper ticket. Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood told the BBC, "We do not want our fans being ripped off either by counterfeit tickets or through costly mark-ups on so-called secondary ticketing web sites. These problems now affect the U.K. more than any other country outside of the USA."
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