One man's trip to see one of his favourite recording artist was almost entirely ruined after the £160 ticket for the concert turned out to be fake.
Will, 33, is a massive music fan and frequently tries to attend gigs regularly in London where he lives.
Last year, he grabbed a ticket to one of his favourite artists Dua Lipa in London, however, he was forced to resell his ticket for the gig at the O2 on the app Ticketswap due to a work trip.
The music lover was desperate to see the American pop star live so tried to grab a ticket for her date in Berlin, as he had friends based in the city.
Will's last-minute decision came with a few hiccups as the gig at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin was sold out but he managed to find a ticket that was being resold on the ticket exchange site Viagogo.
A new survey for resale platform TicketSwap has revealed almost half of concert-goers have admit to being fraud victims or know someone who has. A further 70% say scammers have put them off buying second-hand tickets for good.
With TicketSwap, 70% of tickets are sold at face value or lower while prices are capped at 20% above face value to protect buyers from overpricing. Meanwhile, fraud is prevented by thorough user-checks and partnerships with the event organisers themselves.
Will told Mirror Money that the ticket on Viagogo was priced at £160 which was more than double what he paid for the London gig.
He said: "I knew the ticket was expensive, and on top of the flights and the accommodation I had to get, it was a lot of money but I knew it was worth it as I was going for the experience."
When the ticket arrived at Will's house he did not have any suspicions as it looked like the "real deal".
He added: "It was high quality definitely, so I felt safe because when you buy tickets from third parties you can sometimes just get a screenshot or email and that can feel dodgy but this looked and felt real."
When the day of the gig arrived, Will met up with his friends in Berlin and headed over to the arena.
After having their tickets scanned, his friends were let in - and this was the moment Will realised there was a problem with his ticket.
He said: "My ticket was scanned and there was a funny beep, and he brought over another guy who scanned it and I was told that I had to go to the ticket office."
Will was told by the ticket office that it had been having "a lot of issues" with Viagogo tickets that day and after a little while, they handed Will a copy of his ticket but this ticket had a large stamp on the front branding it as "invalid".
Will added: "They told me I could use it to get my money back from Viagogo and was like sir money is not the issue right now, Dua Lipa was coming on in 40 minutes my friends had gone in and I needed to go and join them."
After being told he was unable to buy a ticket from the venue directly, Will wandered around outside the arena alone for 20 minutes trying to figure out a way he could get into the gig.
He said: "So, I could either try and buy another ticket on Viagogo and maybe get scammed again or I could buy a ticket on a random website and still could get scammed, so I started looking everywhere and I was so stressed."
Will finally found a ticket for the gig on the website Ticketbande, however, the site was entirely in German so he couldn't really understand what was written, but with Dua Lipa set to strut onstage in 15 minutes, Will felt this was his last chance.
He added: "It was £240 and I was freaking out so I just did it and bought it. With everything I had spent hundreds to get here, I was at the venue, it just couldn't be ruined, I was not going without seeing Dua Lipa."
An intense 10 minutes followed, but Will eventually received the confirmation of his ticket and with five minutes to spare, his new ticket was accepted and he was let in.
Will was thankfully able to get a full refund from Viagogo and is speaking out to warn others about fraudsters praying on music fans.
He said: "They use being a marketplace as a scapegoat for not putting in proper procedures and when things go wrong they take your money anyway."
Viagogo told Mirror Money it takes fraud "incredibly seriously" and says it has invested in security on the site.
It claims it also tries to deter fraud by not paying sellers until a ticket has enabled access to an event, fining sellers for any unfulfilled tickets, and suspending them from the site if malicious.
A spokesperson said: “At Viagogo we want fans to have the options and flexibility they deserve for buying and selling tickets to live events. Purchasing tickets from a regulated marketplace like ours, which comes with a 100% order guarantee, ensures that you’ll gain entry to your chosen event or your money back.
“In this instance, the ticket was erroneously cancelled, and the seller has been held responsible with a fine. As compensation, the customer has been given a full refund, and a 50% voucher.
"Problems like this are very rare, with less than 0.02% of tickets sold on viagogo ever experiencing any issues at the gate. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this caused.”
