How do ticket resale scams work?
Ticket scams follow demand: sold-out tours, finals and festivals. The Action Fraud figures for 2024, published in April 2025, count 9,826 reports of ticket fraud in the UK and £9,794,034 lost, up 47% on 2023. Action Fraud’s advice is to buy from official sellers and to be wary of bank transfer requests.
- The social media seller. Tickets offered in a comment or a group, paid by bank transfer or a payment app, and never sent.
- The duplicated ticket. The same screenshot or PDF sold to several buyers; only the first one gets in.
- The copycat ticket site. A site that looks like a resale marketplace, often found through an ad, with a recent domain and no identifiable company.
- The fake “transfer” email. A message that imitates a platform’s ticket transfer and asks you to pay a fee or log in on another site.
What do StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and TickPick guarantee?
| Marketplace | What the guarantee says |
|---|---|
| StubHub (FanProtect) | Tickets arrive in time and are valid for entry; if there is a problem, comparable tickets or your money back; a refund if the event is canceled and not rescheduled |
| Vivid Seats (100% Buyer Guarantee) | Valid and authentic tickets, delivered in time for the event, identical or comparable to the ones ordered, or your money back |
| TickPick (BuyerTrust Guarantee) | Valid tickets or a refund; replacement tickets of equal or greater value when there is a problem; a full refund if the event is canceled |
| SeatGeek (Buyer Guarantee) | Read the conditions on SeatGeek’s own help center before you buy |
Sources: StubHub, FanProtect guarantee explained, Vivid Seats guarantee, TickPick on its BuyerTrust Guarantee.
How to check a ticket site you have never heard of
- 01Find the official seller first. The event or venue page names its primary ticket seller; anything else is resale.
- 02Read the domain. Copies of known marketplaces use extra words or other extensions.
- 03Check the domain’s age and the company behind the site. A ticket site registered weeks before a big tour, with no company in a register, is a strong warning sign.
- 04Look at how you can pay. A card payment can be disputed; a bank transfer usually cannot.
- 05Read the refund conditions for canceled events before you pay.
Business Check · Free preview
Paste the ticket site’s address: domain age, company registry, Google Safe Browsing and web reputation, with the source of each check.
Any free account can run a Business Check (3 credits, out of 10 free credits a month) and see how many checks ran and how many warning signs came up. The full report, with the score, the company, the people and every source, is on the Business plan ($49 a month), with a manual review by our team within 48 hours when the AI cannot confirm everything.
What a website check cannot tell you about tickets
A Business Check is about the site and the company. It cannot tell you whether a particular ticket is valid, whether a seller on a legit marketplace is honest, or whether a venue will accept a resold ticket. For those, the marketplace’s guarantee and the event’s own resale rules are what count.
The scam website checker explains each check, and the resale marketplaces guide covers the same off-app payment trap for clothes, sneakers and collectibles. Dated reports on popular sites are in our trust reports.
Frequently asked questions
Is StubHub legit?
StubHub is an established ticket marketplace. Its FanProtect guarantee promises tickets that arrive in time and are valid for entry, or comparable tickets or your money back, for purchases made on StubHub. Tickets paid through social media or payment apps are not covered.
Is Vivid Seats or TickPick legit?
Both are established resale marketplaces with published guarantees: Vivid Seats’ 100% Buyer Guarantee and TickPick’s BuyerTrust Guarantee promise valid tickets or a refund for purchases made on their sites.
How can I tell if a ticket website is fake?
Check the domain against the marketplace you think you are on, the age of the domain, the company behind the site and the payment methods. A young domain, no identifiable company and a request for a bank transfer together are strong warning signs.
Can AnyFact check a ticket or a QR code?
No. We check the website and the company behind it, not tickets. Whether a ticket is valid is up to the venue and the marketplace’s guarantee.