Oasis fans who have fallen victim to ticket scammers have lost £346 each on average, according to a high street bank’s analysis of its own data.
Lloyds Bank said fans desperate to buy tickets to the Manchester band’s UK reunion shows next year had been hit by a “landslide” of scams, with more than 90% of cases starting with fake adverts and posts on social media.
It said an analysis of scam reports made by customers of Lloyds Banking Group – including those with Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, and where Oasis was referenced as part of the claim – showed “hundreds” of people said they had been defrauded.
Its data related to the period between 27 August – the date when Liam and Noel Gallagher confirmed the band was reforming – and 25 September, with the bank saying that the total was likely to be considerably higher now.
Tickets to the 17 outdoor shows taking place across the UK next summer went on general sale on 31 August. There was an outcry when fans reported queueing online for hours, only to find that the price of the £135 standing tickets had risen to £355. Late last month it emerged that about 50,000 tickets for Oasis’s UK and Ireland shows would be cancelled because buyers had violated the terms and conditions.
Lloyds said its internal data showed that unhappy Oasis fans accounted for about 70% of all reported concert ticket scams since 27 August.
Victims reported losing an average of £346, though some had had up to £1,000 stolen.
Those aged between 35 and 44 were most likely to be targeted by fraudsters, with this age category making up almost a third (31%) of all cases.
More than nine in 10 of the reported cases started with fake adverts or posts on social media, said Lloyds, with the “vast majority” originating on Facebook, which includes Facebook Marketplace.
“A simple search of Facebook reveals numerous unofficial groups have been set up, many boasting tens of thousands of members, dedicated to buying and selling tickets for the Oasis tour. This is despite Meta’s own commerce policy stating that the sale of concert tickets is ‘not allowed’ on the platform,” said a bank spokesperson.
Lloyds said its data also indicated that the amounts spent on concert tickets had “soared”. On the day Oasis tickets went on sale, fans spent an average of £563 per debit card transaction on one of the UK’s biggest ticket-selling sites. As a comparison, when Taylor Swift’s UK tour tickets were released last year, her fans typically spent less: an average of £342 on the major ticket site.
Meta said it was “committed to protecting our users from fraudulent activities”, and added that it advised users to report posts they thought might be a scam so that it could take action.
Last month, Meta announced the expansion of a scheme that involves UK banks sharing information with the social media firm to help protect people against fraud. NatWest and Metro Bank were the first banks to participate in the pilot scheme, with more scheduled to join over the coming months.