World Cup fans ‘fleeced by American ticket scams’ on the day of games

Fuming fans who have forked out thousands for World Cup tickets claim they are being scammed – with tickets being cancelled when they arrive at stadiums. Ghost tickets are being sold on reselling sites such as StubHub, which is leaving fans who have forked out mega money for seats left disappointed when it comes to kick off.

Hundreds of fans say they have travelling to stadiums to watch a game, only to get an email confirming their tickets have been cancelled. They say that refunds take days to come through, meaning they are left out of pocket and unable to get in to see their favourite stars perform on the world’s biggest stage.

England fans are now being warned about buying “ghost tickets” in the lead up to kicking off their World Cup campaign on Wednesday against Croatia.

Tickets for the game are still not sold out. Secondary ticket sites including StubHub are offering tickets from $867 (£648) to $9,225 (£6,900) for a ticket and meal package with access to VIP lounge. There are also still some hospitality tickets ranging from $2,430 to $3,150 on the Fifa website.

But now England fans are being warned to steer clear of StubHub if they want to get in the ground. One Scotland fan, who was caught out, said: “I had tickets for the Haiti game. Paid $600 for it when we first got the fixtures, then on the day I got an email telling me that my order had been cancelled.

“No reason, no nothing. I was told my refund would be given in 3-5 working days, and tickets were still available but at double the price. It’s a scam and a naughty one. Absolute joke.”

And it seems this is common practice. Another fan, Sean Durgin took to X to moan: “WARNING about StubHub. We purchased 4 FIFA World Cup tickets (France vs Senegal, MetLife Stadium June 16) for $2,189 back in December. Three days before the game, the seller “couldn’t deliver.” StubHub’s so-called FanProtect Guarantee

” When we clicked the link — ZERO replacement tickets available. The same seats are now listed at DOUBLE the price. Oh, and our $300 non-refundable parking pass? Gone. This is a deliberate bait-and-switch scheme and we’re filing complaints with both the NJ and MD Attorney General. Do better.”

Another user, Della added: “Giant scam. Spent 3K on tickets and no replacements were provided either after they were promised.”StubHub should be run out of business. People planned tips and flights and hotels and were cheated out of tickets. Should be all over media and they should be exposed.”

The ghost tickets are sold using the site’s speculative ticketing price frame.

The way speculative ticketing works is that sellers can list tickets that they don’t actually have in their possession. Speculative tickets can wind up listed online before any real tickets are even on sale, with the seller only required to send the tickets three hours before the game and can be cancelled at any time before that.

Unsuspecting buyers then find out at the last minute that the tickets they thought they’d secured weeks or months before aren’t going to come through. They will get a refund, but they’ve missed out on other opportunities to gain entry to an event.

StubHub did not respond to requests for comments from the Daily Star but previously said on speculative pricing: that “some people do have legitimate access to tickets before the public sale — VIP holdbacks, artists, sponsors — but because the system is so opaque, there’s no way to verify what’s real and what’s not, which is why real transparency in the primary market is so urgently needed.”