The Great Rock & Roll Swindle

Posted by Brian | Thursday, May 06, 2010

I was surprised recently to learn that a couple of friends had individually been scammed by ticket sales websites for gigs they were aiming to go to. As both of them are very online literate I did not expect that they could be duped to part with their hard earned so easily. Or maybe I was being somewhat naive to the skill of the scam websites.

I was then listening to a radio news item this week regarding the very same subject and the alarming scale of operation. The discussion centred on the obvious ease with which you can set up a scam website and coerce cash from unsuspecting punters. Well this is no surprise but as a relapsed regular gig goer I was not as aware of the scale of opportunity that existed and this led me to thoughts of online safety across all areas of transaction.

Of course the ability to set up a website and appear to be something you are not is no new fact and looking secure and trustworthy can be achieved also, but how do we protect our money before we pass it across the virtual counter?

Government guidance from websites such as Get Safe Online offers good guidance www.getsafeonline.org and there are some easy follow basics such as

• Does the website offer full contact details including a genuine address and phone number?
• Where required can you see the padlock symbol and does the website display ‘https://’ at any point in which you are providing debit or credit card details?
• Are terms and conditions clearly detailed and what are they?
• How are they protecting your privacy and dealing with any of your personal data?

Regrettably it is not always this simple to check as there are issues here. For instance a website that displays a https:// address indicates that it has gained an SSL certificate to transact securely within an encrypted connection.

This merely indicates that the traffic between you and the website server is encrypted and that the server is who they have claimed to be.

But this does not guarantee the honesty of the certificate registrant. There are various certification companies in the market who use different methods to check the validity of any registering company or person. Sadly there cannot be nailed on guarantees here. You can also click to check the validity of any certificate but you must still be aware of the above caveats.

If the website displays contact details call them and speak to someone to try to gauge who they are if you are unsure. If there are no contact details then it may be wise to look elsewhere.

If terms and conditions are detailed what protection do they offer?  Do you feel comfortable with them? Gig tickets can be difficult as most reputable companies will charge at point of purchase but may not ship until the week before the gig so be aware of how the purchase works and what you can do if it fails.

Most quality and honest websites should detail how they use your data and how it will be protected so these can also be checked. If unsure do not buy. The Data Protection Act does offer levels of protection so check for conformity and inclusion.

One way to check out a website is Google. A search of the company name and details may show some comments or details from alternate websites and it is possible sometimes to locate content that identifies scams and issues that others may have experienced.

You can also check the age of a domain, country of host and these may indicate possible hoax websites. If a domain is only a few months old and the website hosts outside the UK in certain countries of ill repute these may be warning signs.

A good rule of thumb is to not buy if you are not sure. There is no reason why an online sale should be different to an offline one. Use your judgement as you should anywhere else. If it seems shifty and dishonest don’t part with your cash. And if you are not quite sure then get more information and seek further advice.

The difficulty is that what may seem like a once in a lifetime offer to see your favourite band at a reduced price, becomes somewhat more expensive if you never get your tickets.

So if it seems cheaper, quicker, better than everywhere else ask yourself why. It may be that it is genuinely so but at least verify the reasoning as a few extra minutes checking  could be worth it in your wallet.