A top British bank is warning of a big spike in ticket fraud ahead of this year’s World Cup, as sky-high prices could drive fans into the arms of scammers.
UK financial giant Lloyds Bank reported a 36% jump in fraud for Premier League tix over the past season, with victims losing an average of $280 each.
The London-based lender urged soccer fans traveling to the US to be wary, suggesting high World Cup demand would encourage fraudsters to prey upon unsuspecting supporters by pawning off phantom tickets or VIP packages.
World Cup host countries Canada and Mexico have much tighter restrictions on ticket resales than the US. Ticket prices for games in the States have gone through the roof, with FIFA last week rolling out a $32,970 seat for the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — triple the cost of its most expensive ticket before then.
“Fraudsters thrive on urgency and target fans looking for hard-to-get tickets for big-name fixtures,” said Liz Ziegler, Lloyds’ fraud prevention director. “It’s incredibly convincing, and we don’t want fans to lose their money trying to support their team.”
High costs of travel and lodging are pushing cash-strapped fans toward unofficial sellers promising “bargains,” according to Lloyds.
Scammers are already flooding social media with fake listings, counterfeit QR codes, bogus waiting lists and “pre-release” offers, the bank said.
Victims are pressured to send money via bank transfer — nearly impossible to reverse — then ghosted. Many ads look professional, sometimes using AI-generated graphics, according to Lloyds.
The high prices of this year’s games have drawn outrage from fans around the globe.
Prices on the official FIFA website for the US-Paraguay match on June 12 start at $2,000. The cheapest available ticket for the final was a VIP seat going for just over $16,000 as of Monday afternoon — though costs are subject to change thanks to FIFA’s controversial use of dynamic pricing, in which algorithms adjust ticket charges based on demand.
Major resale platform Ticketmaster offered the June 12 and final games for $1,000 and $9,000, respectively, according to the Live Nation-owned company’s website.
By comparison, the average cost for the final at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was roughly $1,600.
In an exclusive telephone interview with The Post last week, President Donald Trump told The Post he would not be willing to pony up a grand to watch the US men’s team kick off their World Cup campaign in Los Angeles next month.
“I did not know that number,” he said just hours after FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the cost of seats for next month’s tournament. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.
“I haven’t seen that, but I would have to take a look at it,” added Trump, who helped secure the tournament for the US during his first term in the White House.
“If people from Queens and Brooklyn and all of the people that love Donald Trump can’t go, I would be disappointed, but, you know, at the same time, it’s an amazing success,” he said. “I would like to be able to have the people that voted for me to be able to go.”
One group of fans in Europe has filed an anti-trust complaint with regulators on the other side of the Atlantic this year, accusing Switzerland-based FIFA of “excessive” pricing.
Top boss Infantino, a Swiss-Italian soccer suit who runs the global body, has defended the use of so-called dynamic pricing, saying the organization was complying with US laws.
