The Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers (STAR) today launch their #lookfortheSTAR campaign to increase customer awareness about how to buy tickets safely.
Their new public awareness campaign hopes to help combat ticket fraud, in view of the high and increasing incidences of fraud over the summer for festivals, gigs and outdoor events such as AC/DC, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, One Direction and the Foo Fighters, as well as some major sporting events including the Rugby World Cup.
The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry. Charged with promoting a high standard of service across the entertainment industry, STAR members work to a strict Code of Practice and a dispute conciliation service operates to help customers resolve outstanding complaints.
New figures have been released by national body Action Fraud revealing nearly 3,000 reported incidents of entertainment and ticket fraud over the six months to end of October 2015. This totals £1.3m, an average of £444 per reported incident. These stats represent the first time that entertainment and sport ticket fraud have been presented alone, all previous UK reporting has rolled figures in with other categories, like holidays and travel fraud.
The #lookfortheSTAR campaign is backed by organisations from across the entertainment industry, including the Concert Promoters Association, the Society of London Theatre and the National Arenas Association, plus the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police. The aim is to reduce ticket fraud by encouraging buyers to always look for the STAR kitemark when purchasing tickets, in the same way that they look for ABTA and ATOL protection in the holiday industry.
eFestivals only links to official ticket agents or an event's own box office, and never link to touting websites. There are a lot of scumbags out there.
The Society's many members include all the UK's major authorised ticket agents as well as arenas, theatres, producers and promoters throughout London and the UK. Between them, members of STAR sell more than 30 million tickets a year.
Websites of the UK’s leading ticketing companies including See Tickets, Ticketmaster, and TicketWeb are today featuring the campaign prominently, alongside a Twitter campaign. The Palladium theatre in central London will also be giving its digital signage over to the campaign this morning.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe, City of London Police/Action Fraud, said, "Buying tickets for major entertainment events takes a lot of planning and organisation and can cost a lot of money. So when people discover they have fallen victim to a fraud – be it through purchasing tickets that either don’t exist or turn out to be counterfeit – it can be a devastating experience. The key to making sure you don’t fall victim to this crime is to only use authorised sellers and if you have any doubts about the website check out the reviews online. And when it comes to making a purchase always use a payment card and never transfer the funds directly into another bank account."
Adrian Sanders, Chairman of STAR said: "As well as cheating the consumer, every case of fraud damages the reputation of Britain's vital entertainment and sporting industries. Buying tickets from a STAR kitemarked seller will give consumers the confidence that their purchase comes with certain guarantees that protect their rights."
STAR members and other supporters are taking part in a Twitter campaign, with members also promoting the campaign in their own e-newsletters, increasing the reach by millions.
STAR recently appointed former MP Adrian Sanders as Chairman. Sanders was Lib Dem MP for Torbay for 18 years, as well as serving on the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee for eight years and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse.
You can find out more information on STAR's awareness campaign and how to lend your support at www.star.org.uk/support