Cricket and Event Ticket Resale Scam over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

A phone call lets the scammer talk fast, sound confident and keep you from thinking. The caller ID can be faked, so it proves nothing. Cricket and Event Ticket Resale Scam is one of the ways this shows up: Tickets for a sold-out match or concert offered on social media may be fake or sold many times. See how to avoid losing money at the gate.

What cricket and event ticket resale scam looks like over the phone

• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.
• An unknown or international number, or a number that looks like a real office.
• A calm, official voice that already knows your name or the last digits of your card.

The scammer copies a genuine ticket photo from a post or buys one and sells it repeatedly. He posts at a price a little below or above face value and names a gate and a block to look real. Replies come in from fake accounts that say 'got mine from him, perfect', so that the page looks trusted.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• Tickets offered for a sold-out event from an unknown account.
• Advance demanded before you see the ticket in your own account.
• Only a screenshot is shown, never a live view in the ticketing app.
• A 'name change' or 'unlock' fee asked in a separate payment.
• The caller wants you to install an app to "fix" something.
• The caller asks for an OTP, UPI PIN, card PIN or CVV.

What to do

1. Buy only from the official ticketing app or website typed by hand.
2. If you buy resale, use the platform's official transfer option so that the ticket shows in your account.
3. Do not pay in advance to a personal UPI ID.
4. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
5. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
6. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the profile, chat and payment ids.
2. Contact your bank on the number printed on your card and ask about holding the transfer.
3. Tell the organiser or the ticketing platform that the QR may be duplicated.
4. File a complaint at the police station, especially if you shared card details.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio's QR check can show where a QR code on a ticket-style image leads, and the link check can warn about payment or 'unlock' links that copy a known site. The scam check reads the seller's chat for advance demands and the pressure line. It cannot verify whether a ticket is genuine or has already been scanned, so only the official ticketing app can prove that.

Full guide: Cricket and Event Ticket Resale Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: social media, WhatsApp, QR code.

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