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Hundreds of illegal online ticket ads removed, but no one has been fined

From footy to theatre tickets, hundreds of ads selling access to sought-after events at massive mark ups have been removed, but not one fine has been issued since the fresh crackdown began.

Vic gov targets scalpers in AFL finals

Hundreds of ads illegally selling tickets to the AFL grand final, theatre shows and other sports events have been removed from the internet as part of Victoria’s ticket scalping crackdown.

New figures reveal 300 posts have been forcibly removed by Victorian ticketing officials, including listings on local and overseas sites that were selling tickets marked up by hundreds of dollars.

More investigations are currently underway, however, scalpers have yet been hit with any penalties, despite the government introducing tougher fines in June 2018.

Under the new state laws people caught selling tickets to declared events for inflated rates can incur fines between $806 and $483,500.

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula says ticket scalping cases have dramatically reduced since the new rules were introduced making things fairer for everyday Victorians.

“A key intention of the law is educating consumers to purchase tickets from primary sellers and the past year has focused on raising education and awareness,” Mr Pakula said.

Minister Martin Pakula says ticket scalping cases are falling. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images
Minister Martin Pakula says ticket scalping cases are falling. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

“Detection and monitoring activities take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Website monitoring of declared major events has resulted in more than 300 listings being removed from national and international secondary ticket-selling platforms, and there are a number of ongoing investigations in place.”

Under the Major Events Act 2009, tickets to declared major events cannot be resold for more than 10 per cent above the face value.

Current events include Chicago the Musical, 2019 Boxing Day Test, 2019 AFL Grand Final and all other AFL finals played in Victoria.

MORE: ANZAC DAY TICKETS STILL FETCH HIGH PRICE

CALL FOR EXTRA EVENTS TO BE COVERED

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two, Melbourne International Arts Festival, 2020 Australian Open, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the men’s and women’s ICC T20 World Cup 2020 are also on the list.

The newly introduced ticketing officers ramped up their anti-scalping efforts for last year’s AFL footy finals with dozens of ticket listings on eBay and Gumtree removed

In some cases as fans scrambled to get tickets for to big matches before they sold out, listings were found reselling passes marked up by as much as 500 per cent.

alex.white@news.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/hundreds-of-illegal-online-ticket-ads-removed-but-no-one-has-been-fined/news-story/4af5bc1ccbce00352263a7b4d94ee9f4