Liverpool Fan’s £1,500 Fake Ticket Ordeal Highlights Rising Sports Scam Losses

A dedicated Liverpool supporter, Matty Orme, realized he had fallen victim to a scam upon opening an email attachment containing what he believed were the Champions League final tickets he had purchased for £1,500. Having been unsuccessful in the official club ballot for tickets, he resorted to a social media page advertising tickets for the 2022 final in Paris. He stated that he had previously used the site, leading him to “didn’t think twice” before spending “a lot of money” on an item that held significant personal value as a football enthusiast. This changed once he examined the content delivered to his inbox. “I opened the PDF on photoshop and saw the layers had been edited and knew straight away that it was a fake,” he recounted to the BBC during its Scam Safe week. “I messaged the Twitter account but they never got back in touch. In fact, they deleted their account and their mobile number went dead too.” He concluded, “It was a hard pill to swallow.” Data published by Santander on Thursday indicated that its customers reported losses totaling nearly a quarter of a million pounds (£243,000) due to sports ticket scams between January and September of the current year. The bank specified that football-related scams constituted the predominant portion, representing over half (52%) of all reported losses. Although football-related scams were the most frequent, other sports experienced higher average losses per individual victim. Motorsports ticket scams recorded the highest average loss at £3,851, accumulating total losses of £50,070. Golf followed, with supporters losing an average of £860 and a combined total of £51,685. The average financial loss per sports ticket scam has increased to £352 this year, up from £225 in 2023, the bank reported, noting 693 claims filed during this timeframe. Orme shared his ordeal on social media “as a warning” to others, subsequently receiving communications from individuals who had undergone comparable situations. “It was one of those guys who made a WhatsApp group to bring us all together and that’s when we realised the scale – there were about 50-60 others like us and all together we think we’ve lost upwards of £100k,” he stated. Orme, whose team was defeated by Real Madrid in the final match, ultimately recovered his funds via his bank. “I got lucky because I’d been able to prove I’d bought through the same Twitter page before and it was a legitimate sale that first time,” he explained. He continued, “This shows I hadn’t just sent someone money without checking when I did actually get scammed – so I won my case through the ombudsman. Loads of the people still haven’t got their money back though.” Detective Sergeant Danny Galvin of Merseyside Police informed the BBC’s Morning Live last month that law enforcement observes increases in “this sort of ticket scam behaviour” during periods of high-profile sporting events characterized by limited ticket availability. He further commented, “Unfortunately, when you choose to not buy through a legitimate seller you do lose all sorts of protection and leave yourself vulnerable to scammers.” A study conducted by Lloyds Bank earlier this year revealed that criminals predominantly target supporters of major teams, with fans of Arsenal and Liverpool being the most frequent victims. Furthermore, data from the NatWest League of Ticket scams—a ranking derived from the volume and value of cases reported to the bank—indicated that Liverpool fans experienced the highest number of scams, losing over £17,000 to fraudsters during the 2023-24 season. The Lloyds Bank study also estimated that approximately 6,000 UK football supporters were defrauded in the 2023-24 season by purchasing non-existent Premier League tickets, marking an increase of roughly one-third compared to the preceding season. The act of criminals deceiving victims into transferring money by impersonating a legitimate entity, such as a bank or a tradesperson, or by offering goods that do not exist, is termed APP (authorised push payment) fraud. As of 7 October, new mandatory regulations have been implemented, requiring UK banks to reimburse victims of APP fraud up to £85,000 within a five-day period. Prior to the introduction of these regulations, the majority of banks had adhered to a voluntary reimbursement code. In the first half of 2024, there were 97,344 reported instances of APP fraud, resulting in total losses of £214 million. TV presenter and consumer champion Matt Allwright commented, “Given the recently introduced new APP fraud rules, it’s interesting to know if Matt’s friends would have been able to get their money back via their banks, I’d assume so.” He also advised, “As always I’d say make sure to use a credit card for purchases above £100 because then you’re much better protected if something goes wrong.” Additional protection is afforded when a credit card is used for purchases ranging from £100 to £30,000, as stipulated by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Football enthusiasts are generally recommended to acquire tickets directly from clubs or their official ticket partners. Individuals impacted by fraud can obtain support via the BBC’s Action Line.