A National Trading Standards spokesperson said:
“Yesterday (Tuesday 12 December), officers from National Trading Standards conducted raids at a number of properties across the UK. These raids are part of an ongoing investigation looking into unfair practices in the secondary ticketing market and particularly the practices of businesses that buy and sell tickets in bulk.
“A total of four properties were raided and four people were arrested under suspicion of breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. In addition to the arrests a range of equipment including computers, mobile phones and storage devices have been seized as evidence.
“The raids, led by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, were supported by local police, specialist police officers and the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team.
“National Trading Standards has also been working closely with the Competition and Markets Authority, which announced on 28 November that it will take action against secondary ticketing websites suspected of breaking consumer protection law.”
Notes to Editors
- National Trading Standards began its specific investigation into the practices of businesses that buy and sell tickets in bulk in April 2017. This investigation is funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- In line with our standard operating procedures National Trading Standards will be making no further comment regarding these raids and our ongoing investigation at this time
About National Trading Standards
National Trading Standards delivers national and regional consumer protection enforcement. Its Board is made up of senior and experienced heads of local government trading standards from around England and Wales with an independent Chair. Its purpose is to protect consumers and safeguard legitimate businesses by tackling serious national and regional consumer protection issues and organised criminality and by providing a “safety net” to limit unsafe consumer goods entering the UK and protecting food supplies by ensuring the animal feed chain is safe.