Demand for Taylor Swift’s UK tour could fuel summer ticket fraud bonanza

The clamour to secure tickets for Taylor Swift's sold-out UK shows is expected to fuel a summer fraud bonanza as figures showed a "staggering" £1.2bn was stolen from unwitting consumers in 2023.

Swift's Eras tour, which arrives in the UK in June, and the Olympic Games, are contenders for biggest ticketing scam of the year. The warning, from industry group UK Finance, came as its annual fraud report revealed that the number of people succumbing to a "purchase scam" in 2023 soared.

In this type of fraud, the victim pays in advance for goods or services - such as concert tickets or designer clothes - that are never received. They usually involve auction websites or fake adverts on social media.

Ben Donaldson, UK Finance's managing director of economic crime, said purchase scams tended to be pegged to big events in the calendar, so Taylor Swift is "going to be a risk this year".

Last month, Lloyds Bank issued an "urgent warning" about Taylor Swift tickets after more than 600 of its customers were scammed, losing more than £1m.

Donaldson's comments came as the banking and finance industry trade body's report revealed criminals stole a total of £1.2bn through payment fraud and scams last year. The huge tally was nonetheless down by 4% on 2022 as tighter bank security controls and greater public awareness of the tricks deployed by fraudsters made a small dent.

Of the £1.2bn, roughly 60% is unauthorised transactions on payment cards and online banking. Victims of this type of fraud nearly always get their money back.