Fraudulent event tickets are something in the year of 2023 that still plagues many of us event organizers, it’s frustrating and it’s costing many of us a lot of money. In this article, we’ll highlight how you can crack down on fraudulent event tickets. Let’s dive in!
Fraudulent Event Tickets 101: What & Why?
Fraudulent event tickets are tickets that are fake versions of a legitimate copy, these fraud tickets can oftentimes be nearly impossible to distinguish between real and fake. Fraud tickets are costing several event organizers a lot of money per event and it’s also reflected onto event attendees by sometimes not letting a ticketer in because seating is now at the capacity, I think you get the point here.
Why Do People Use Fraudulent Event Tickets?
The simple answer is because they know they can - even if they realize they shouldn’t. If they are repeat offenders at your events, nothing is going to stop them if there is no change.
Another reason people use fraudulent event tickets is by accident, ironically enough. There are several shady companies that sell “tickets” at a discounted rate (or even a higher price) to those who fall victim to them. These companies do these scam operations because it can net them a lot of money with little work. In many cases, the average event ticket does not have any form of security attached to them, when they simply should.
The fallout of those that purchase these tickets without realizing they are fraud could lead them into trouble and may be banned from events in the future if they are found to be using fraud tickets.
Free Ways to Prevent Fraudulent Tickets
There really is only one free way to prevent fake tickets from being used, and that’s by requiring ID on purchase, and verification on arrival. It’s one that works well enough for smaller events, but for larger events, it’s likely going to be too much of a time sink to bother with.
The 3 Best Ways to STOP Fake Tickets All-Together
We’ve mentioned a free method, but those that are serious about stopping fraudulent tickets or preventing them all-together know the importance of investing in their events for complete success. Besides, these 3 suggestions are actually relatively affordable for everyone.
#1: Using Mobile Ticket Scanning Technology
One of the best ways you can stop fake ticketers from entering the door is by offering QR based ticketing. Mobile ticket scanning typically works by saving digitized tickets onto a smartphone and then prompting your entrance crew to scan these tickets. It’s a great alternative because the tickets will only return valid, if it passes all the verification steps that happen real-time in the cloud.
Many ticketing platforms out there offer digital mobile tickets, but some tend to come with an increased price, or a generalized addon package - mostly because these ticketing platforms know how essential these really are.
If you’re wanting to get started with mobile ticketing, our sister company FreshTix.com offers mobile ticketing with no additional fees or costs associated with them.
The one thing to note about selecting a ticketing platform that uses mobile ticketing technology is that a majority of them require you to rent/lease or purchase proprietary mobile ticketing tools to use on the field, whereas other companies such as FreshTix, offers a smart phone app that can be downloaded on both iOS & Android - and if that’s still not an option for your team, FreshTix also offers leased equipment just for this rare case.
#2: QR-Code Based Event Tickets
Similar to what we’ve mentioned above in regards to mobile tickets, if you opt to go a traditional route with your tickets and want to offer physical tickets, many companies offer the ability to have custom QR codes for your physical tickets. This can be great for those who know the importance of tickets as a keepsake.
When selecting a QR based ticketing provider, be sure to find one that allows for a great amount of customization, so you can make it truly your own. Many companies offer a great amount of customization options, but then restrict you when you opt to add in security layers such as QR codes - not to mention FreshTix.com but they do however offer a great amount of customization without sacrificing when it comes to the secure tickets (QR based).
#3: Using Event Wristbands in Conjunction with Event Tickets
Last but certainly not least is using both event wristbands with event tickets at the same time. While this isn’t the best or worst on the list, it’s one to strongly consider to create an extra layer of security for your events.
Event wristbands can offer a great layer of security by using similar technology that QR based tickets use, in this case, you can customize your wristbands to have your mobile tickets QR code onto them.
Another method that can be used as an alternative to QR technology is to use barcodes and printing them directly onto your custom wristband.
Lastly, using a hard to replicate wristband type such as Tyvek wristbands can dramatically reduce the amount of replicates.
Bonus Tip: Use Blacklight Technology
The final tip is to use blacklight technology with unique modifiers on your tickets in the form of hidden text that’s only revealed with black lights - assigning unique modifiers will make it very hard to fake tickets, as most of the reproduction companies, don’t check this far into the originals before creating fakes.
Stay Secure & Prevent Fraud Tickets with Event Wristbands Today!
Ready to put an end to fraud tickets, and add an extra layer of security to your event? Our best advice is to choose a reputable ticketing company that offers mobile ticketing and using wristbands in conjunction with them.
Just to get you started these are the best wristbands to customize with security in mind:
- https://www.eventwristbands.com/collections/custom-paper-tyvek-wristbands
- https://www.eventwristbands.com/collections/tab-free
- https://www.eventwristbands.com/collections/custom-plastic-wristbands
As for ticketing, we cannot suggest our sister company FreshTix.com enough for those that need a more secure approach to ticketing. Besides secure tickets, FreshTix gives you complete control to easily sell tickets online, offer reserved seating, pricing tiers and so much more - with the ever-so included sweet deal of the lowest fees around.
