A 5 Live investigation "discovered that laws banning the touting of football tickets are being flouted, leaving supporters vulnerable to dubious online brokers," according to Goldberg & Horn of the BBC.
In a bid to clamp down on illegal trading, ManU "seized more than 1,700 tickets during the last two seasons."
There "are also concerns that some websites allowing fans to legitimately resell tickets for other types of show may be in breach of consumer protection legislation introduced last year."
The Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers warns the online trade allows unscrupulous firms to "dupe unsuspecting ticket buyers" on an "industrial scale." The society "is developing an industry code of practice for legitimate ticket resellers." The general resale of football tickets was banned in '94, "because of safety fears over the possibility of rival fans mingling together." Only outlets officially authorized by clubs "can offer unwanted seats." Aside from football, "the secondary market in tickets is a legitimate business." Secondary sales in music tickets are worth an estimated £1B ($1.4B) per year, "but fraud is not uncommon."
There "were more than 4,000 complaints made to the City of London Police, home of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, in 2015 alone."
Despite that only 32 ticketing sites "were suspended" (BBC, 2/21).
