As school holidays approach HSBC warns people to be on the lookout for ticket scams
Media enquiries:
Lillian Birchall
E-mail: lillian.birchall@hsbc.com.au
According to Scamwatch ticket scams cost Australians an estimated $43 million in 2023.
These ticket scams can take a variety of different forms – some will deliver fake tickets or nothing at all, others are designed to capture credit card numbers.
Jessica Power, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC Australia said, “Ticket scams are very common and the industry saw a huge spike earlier this year when many big musical acts came to town.
However, around school holidays when people are all trying to get tickets to the same events for their families, the scarcity creates opportunities for scammers to steal from innocent victims.
We ask that our customers take extra care these school holidays and stick to buying tickets from official event websites or their official ticketing partners.”
If you’re looking to buy tickets from alternative channels, such as social media, eBay or Gumtree, we recommend some simple steps to protect yourself, which include:
- Be alert to the fact that these types of scams exist, and proceed cautiously by doing your due diligence
- Only buying from people who you know, and independently contacting them through a different channel to check it’s a genuine sale. Fraudsters have been known to take over social media accounts and impersonate them to their networks.
- Always look for secure payment options such as PayPal or Apple/Google Pay instead of giving your credit card details to the seller
- Slow down. Regardless of the type of scam, these criminals try to create a sense of urgency that pressure people into acting quickly. Stop, think and protect yourself from scammers.
The safest thing to do is to stick to buying tickets from the official channels, and if you miss out, look for alternative dates or shows.
If you think you have been scammed, report it to your bank, Scamwatch and the platform where the transaction was made.
For more tips on how to protect yourself, please visit the HSBC Security Centre.
HSBC Australia
In Australia, the HSBC Group offers an extensive range of financial services through a network of 29 branches and offices. These services include retail and commercial banking, trade finance, treasury and financial markets, payments and cash management and securities custody. Principal HSBC Group members operating in Australia include HSBC Bank Australia Limited (ABN 48 006 434 162 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 232595) and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (ABN 65 117 925 970 and AFSL 301737).
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 62 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,039bn at 31 December 2023, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.