Barclays has issued a warning to bank customers who are at risk of losing £215 from their bank accounts due to ticket fraud and scams. The high street lender, which has branches in Birmingham, has sounded the alarm over the growing threat.
Rising Threat of Ticket Scams
According to Barclays, fans aged 18-29 would pay an extra £55 on average for resale tickets, more than double the national average of £25. However, ticket scam victims report losing £215 on average, with one in four UK adults who encounter a scam losing money.
Barclays proprietary data shows that 63 per cent of Gen Z purchase scams reported last year started on social media. Additionally, 64 per cent of UK adults believe artificial intelligence is making ticket scams harder to spot.
How Scammers Operate
Of those who have fallen victim to a ticket scam, one in three (33 per cent) say they were asked to pay by bank transfer, while 26 per cent say the scammer moved communication to a private messaging app. The Barclays Scams Bulletin tracks scam trends across personal and business accounts, with expert advice from Barclays digital safety specialists.
Kirsty Adams, Fraud & Scams Expert at Barclays, said: “Fairer resale rules are good news for fans, but they do not make every ticket offer safe. The risk often starts when people miss out on official tickets and feel pressure to act quickly. Scammers know this, and can use urgency, social media and convincing proof such as screenshots to make fake offers look real.
“Our message to fans is simple: if a ticket is being sold outside official channels, take extra care. Do not let the pressure to secure a ticket push you into paying before you have checked who you are dealing with.”
Timely Warning for Football Fans
The warning comes at a pertinent time for football fans, with the FIFA World Cup now less than a month away. Barclays urges customers to remain vigilant and only purchase tickets from official sources to avoid falling victim to fraud.
