Oasis fans lose US$2.7 million to ticket scams in UK ahead of comeback tour
Lloyds bank said most scams occurred on Facebook as fraudsters targeted the reunion tour
Oasis fans wishing to see the reunited British band live in concert have collectively lost more than 2 million pounds (US$2.7 million) from UK ticket scams, mostly on Facebook, Lloyds bank said on Thursday.
“Fans of Oasis are being targeted by a surge of ticket scams on social media, as the … rock icons prepare to tour the UK this summer for the first time since 2009,” the UK lender said in a statement.
The chaotic scramble for the prized tickets followed the announcement in August last year that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher had ended their infamous 15-year feud and were reuniting for a worldwide tour.
Oasis – whose hits include Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova – kick off the reunion tour on July 4 in Cardiff before playing in their home city, Manchester, the following week.
Other venues include Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.
Lloyds noted that “scams often occur in two waves: the first when tickets are released for sale, and again as the event date approaches”.
Working from figures based on its own customers, “the bank estimates that across the UK there are likely to have been at least 5,000 victims since tickets went on sale, with over 2 million pounds lost to fraudsters” – an average of 436 pound per person.