Four arrested in UK as part of ticket scalping investigation

Four people were arrested overnight as part of an ongoing investigation into the practices of businesses that buy and sell tickets in bulk.

The arrests were made by officers of consumer protection body UK Trading Standards’ eCrime Team, with help from various police divisions.

The Operation Electra investigation began quietly in April to see if secondary ticket sellers breached UK consumer law.

The focus was on the major four – eBay-owned StubHub, Switzerland-based Viagogo and Ticketmaster-operated platforms GetMeIn! and Seatwave.

But Operation Electra didn’t come to public notice after competition watchdog Competition and Markets Authority raided the London offices of StubHub and Viagogo.

Trading Standards did not reveal the identities of the four, and if they were linked to any of the major reseller platforms.

It issued a statement, “A total of four properties were raided and four people were arrested under suspicion of breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The CMA’s own investigation saw the body declare that consumer laws were being broken, and that platforms would be told to make changes in their practice.

One of these would be to stop scaring consumers that tickets for an event were close to selling out when not the case.

Customers who buy through secondary ticketing platforms may not only face the prospect of being turned away at the venue, but will also face major problems getting refunds if the event is cancelled.

In the latest instance of huge mark-ups for shows in the UK, tickets for the hip hop musical Hamilton are being advertised for up to £6,000 (A$10,540).

In Australia, laws are passed to ban the bot software and mark-ups over 10% of the original price.

But the live music industry laments that follow-through enforcement is still a problem.