Don’t go breaking your heart if you want to see Elton John or Beyoncé

Music lovers eager to see their favorite pop stars in the coming months are warned to be wary of the latest card fraud and scam issue.

Computer glitches have prevented thousands of Beyoncé fans from getting their hands on officially priced tickets for her UK tour starting next month. Many were blocked from using the official Ticketmaster website with error messages – or started for no apparent reason.

Fans were given the option to buy tickets for ten times their official price – £600 instead of £56. Prices have since dropped again.

Last month, British rock band The Cure revealed how Ticketmaster hit fans with hidden extras to see them on a US concert tour starting in May. Tickets from £16 were sold with a £9 ‘service fee’, £8 ‘facilities fee’ and £4.50 ‘processing fee’ – doubling the total ticket price. The band admirably forced the website to refund £8 for the cheapest tickets – and £4 for everyone else.

With plenty of headline acts touring the UK this year – such as Elton John, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen – it is expected that many fans will be targeted by touts and scammers selling tickets at inflated prices – or fake ones.

Crooked dealers not only use fake profiles to make them appear honest and trustworthy, but also employ cunning tricks such as heart tugging (e.g. a death of a family) to explain why they are selling their tickets. Once you part with your money, the seller duly disappears and doesn’t send tickets.

Desperate fans are also vulnerable to being ripped off in the poorly regulated but legal secondary ticket market. Here, touts sell hard-to-get tickets at vastly inflated prices, while websites such as Viagogo and StubHub International can charge buyers an additional 10 percent commission on top of the agreed ticket price.

Consumer champion Martyn James believes fans should be philosophical about not purchasing tickets from the official website – and accept that they’ve just been unlucky. They miss their favorite band live, but avoid the risk of getting ripped off.

He says, “The market for live concert tickets is like the Wild West. If you miss tickets the first time, accept that it wasn’t your day. Take a step back and don’t allow a rush of blood to the head to make you do something irrational just because you love the band’s music. You might regret it—and run out of pocket without a ticket.”

James says Facebook is the new frontier for fraudsters, who often lurk among specialized chat groups. He fears that social media giants are not good at checking such rogues, forcing ticket buyers to take all the chances. Scams are big business. Last year, two scammers who fraudulently sold tickets for headline acts such as Ed Sheeran bought from dealers including Ticketmaster were ordered to pay back £6 million. It turned out that they used computers to purchase tickets from the original source and then resold them at inflated prices.

Other scammers claim to forward e-tickets to fans, but once paid they disappear without a trace.

Consumer group Which? wants tighter regulation of the market. It says that the face value of a ticket must be clearly displayed so that a buyer knows exactly how much extra to pay. Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert for Which?, says: ‘Music fans should be wary of buying from secondary ticketing websites. There is no guarantee that you will receive your tickets or that you will be able to enter the venue with a resold ticket.’

She adds: ‘If you decide it’s worth taking the risk, we’d recommend paying by credit card if the tickets cost more than £100. Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, a card company is equally liable with the merchant if there are problems with the tickets.’

Although secondary websites are legal, they may not help if you are not satisfied with the tickets purchased, for example if you do not get the requested seats. Even if you want to change tickets or get a refund, you are often left to your own devices. Webb says buyers should always try to purchase tickets through an official source first, such as the venue where the event is taking place.

Ticketmaster says, “We have successfully served extraordinary demand for the Beyoncé concerts. While there would never be enough tickets to keep up with demand, thousands of fans have gotten their hands on them.”

The Star Association (the Association of Ticket Agents and Retailers) has a strict code of conduct that members must adhere to – and offers a dispute resolution service if you are not satisfied with the way a ticket complaint has been handled. Look for the Star logo with a white padlock in a black ticket box. Members must refund their money if the ticket they sell turns out to be fake.

Viagogo says it offers an order guarantee that ensures buyer access, or their money back. It adds: “This is not the case when buying from social media or black market sites. Our prices are set by sellers and can fluctuate based on demand – so we encourage people to look for a price that best fits their budget.”