Electric Picnic 2025: How to avoid latest ticket scams amid Garda investigation

An Garda Síochána have identified at least 20 cases where people have been scammed into buying fake Electric Picnic [EP] tickets. 

A Garda spokesperson has urged the public to "exert a great degree of caution if attempting to purchase tickets through any third-party known or otherwise." 

This comes in the wake of reports of a new online scam which saw numerous people being scammed with the promise of tickets to EP next weekend. 

Victims of the scam were told they were being sold tickets to the sold-out festival if they transferred varying sums to the "seller's" Revolut account, with one person transferring €1,600. 

After the money was sent, the scammer would tell the buyer that they were having issues with their Ticketmaster and Revolut accounts. 

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Gardai have advised that anyone who believes they have fallen victim to fraudulent festival tickets to report it to their local Garda station. 

This EP ticket scandal come in the wake of The Journal uncovering that there has been a stark increase in the number of fraudulent pages online advertising as legitimate Irish stores and sellers in recent years. 

They have uncovered that almost 100 websites have falsely presented themselves as Irish stores, targeting shoppers in at least 14 different countries. 

These online shops have posted more than 50,000 ads on Facebook. 

For Techs Sake podcast host Elaine Burke spoke on NewsTalk Breakfast about how these online scams have evolved over recent years to become much more convincing. 

Speaking on how scammers have adapted she explained: "What they do is they capitalize on responding to how consumers are learning about scams. Consumers have learned by now that if something looks like it's too good to be true, then it is likely a scam. “ 

She continued: "So, what they do to counteract that is they create this story of closing down sales – so, prices have been slashed and that explains the low cost of things." 

In reference to masquerading as Irish storefront, Burke outlined that people a less suspicious of Irish online stores as they want to support local businesses. 

She explained: "That's why they create this idea of a store that's been founded in Ireland, that has background in Ireland, has a location here in Ireland. They've spoofed that in different ways through the naming of these sites and profiles, through AI generated imagery, to give a back store to different the alleged people in these stores." 

Burke advised to watch out for AI imagery in online ads and to avoid any deal that seems too good to be true, because it is probably too good to be true. 

It has been advised to ensure that you are not buying scam EP tickets to only purchase from the official seller, Ticketmaster. 

It is recommended to never purchase tickets from unauthorized sites, social media, or unofficial individuals. 

If buying from an unofficial seller, make sure to use a secure payment method, never paying cash, to better protect yourself against fraud. 

Finally, if you do believe you have encountered a ticket scam, contact your bank immediately to suspend the payment, report the suspicious activity to the event organizer and the official ticketing platform, and report it to your local Garda station.