Touts employ overseas workers to bulk-buy gig tickets

A recent BBC investigation has revealed that ticket touts are using overseas workers to buy large numbers of tickets for the UK's most popular concerts and sports events. These touts then resell the tickets at much higher prices, making huge profits. The investigation found that some touts are hiring teams of 'ticket pullers' in countries like Pakistan and India. These workers use illegal software and multiple fake identities to buy hundreds of tickets as soon as they go on sale. This makes it very hard for regular fans to get tickets, even if they wait in online queues for hours.

For example, tickets for the highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour sold out quickly, but many soon appeared on resale websites for up to £6,000 each—about 40 times their original price. The same thing happened with Taylor Swift's concerts, where tickets were snapped up by touts and then resold for huge profits. Some touts have made millions of pounds using these methods. The BBC also found that this problem is not limited to music events. Thousands of football tickets for Premier League matches were being sold illegally online, even though it is against the law to resell football tickets in the UK without permission.

The UK government is aware of the problem and is planning new measures to tackle it. These include putting a cap on resale prices, increasing fines, and introducing a new licensing system for ticket sellers. However, some critics say these steps do not go far enough. They argue that more needs to be done to protect fans and stop touts from using unfair and sometimes illegal methods to buy and sell tickets. The investigation also found that some touts list tickets for sale even before they actually have them, a practice called 'speculative selling. ' This can leave fans paying for tickets that may not even exist. Many people hope that stronger laws and better enforcement will help make ticket buying fairer for everyone.