Police use fake website to warn about ticket fraud
SIDN supports awareness campaign
Ticketbewust.nl – meaning ‘ticket-aware.nl’ – is the name of a new website set up by the Dutch police, which seems to be selling tickets to football matches and music concerts. In reality, it’s a fake webshop created to alert people to the danger of ticket fraud. SIDN is one of numerous partners supporting the police’s awareness campaign.
Ticketbewust.nl is a website set up with the help of the Fraud Help Desk, trading platform Marktplaats and other community partners. Adverts on Marktplaats tempt people to click through to the site, which offers ‘exclusive tickets’ to ‘sold-out concerts’ by famous artists including Lady Gaga, Typhoon and Roxy Dekker. The site also claims to have tickets for games involving the Ajax football club of Amsterdam. “Get the best seats at the best prices.”
Marktplaats ads
Between 30 October 2025 and 11 January 2026, more than 300,000 ads for Ticketbewust.nl were shown on Marktplaats. That led to more than 30,000 people clicking to read the ad and 7,402 continuing to the fake webshop. And, despite the built-in warnings that the site wasn’t for real, 3,432 people tried to order tickets. What they actually got was advice from the police on how to avoid falling victim to ticket fraud.
Numerous victims
Ticketbewust.nl isn’t the first fake webshop created by the police. A year ago, there was ‘pakjedealsnu.nl’ – a similar site designed to raise awareness of the dangers of fraudulent online trading. “We’ve turned our attention to ticket fraud because it’s another big problem,” says Gijs van der Linden, team leader at the National Internet Fraud Desk (LMIO). “Every year, the police get about 50,000 complaints about online trading fraud, and roughly 10 per cent of them involve ticket fraud. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: about 80 per cent of ticket fraud victims don’t make complaints because the sums involved are usually small. So, actually, there must be far more victims than we know about.”
Smart scams
“The fake website was set up because we’ve seen how clever and convincing a lot of scammers are,” continues Van der Linden. “Scammers are cunning – they know how exciting it is to discover that you can still get a ticket to that special event. Of course you want to snap it up straight away. And that’s when you’re vulnerable to being scammed. Our aim isn’t to trick people, but to make them more aware. Because anyone can get taken in. The entertainment and sports industries see it all the time: people presenting their tickets, only to be told that they’re fakes. So those industries are fully behind this initiative.”
Too good to be true
Ticketbewust.nl uses the same tactics as actual fake webshops. “The ticket offers on the site are too good to be true,” explains Van der Linden. “For example, we offer exclusive access to sold-out concerts. Our site also has various hidden warnings, which should make attentive visitors aware that they’re looking at a fake site. If, for instance, you check the Trade Register number or address given on the site, you’ll see that they belong to the police. Those are amongst the things you should be looking at to decide whether a site is trustworthy or not.”
How to avoid ticket fraud
When buying tickets, always go to the official website of the organiser, venue, event or artist. That’s where you’ll find a link to the official ticket outlet. Most tickets for events in the Netherlands are sold by Eventim, Ticketmaster, the NTK, or s system such as See Tickets, CM.com, GUTS tickets, Eventix, Stager or Ticketkantoor.
If the official site says the event is sold out, be wary of offers on other sites and platforms. Often, an unofficial vendor will sell you fake tickets, or won’t send you anything at all.
When buying from a private seller, don’t pay up front. Arrange to collect instead, and pay on collection.
Whenever you’re unsure about a sales channel, go to our reputation checking site to find out whether they’ve been accused of fraud. Another option is to contact the Fraud Help Desk, whose staff can help you check out a site.
If you do nevertheless get scammed, immediately write or mail the ticket seller asking for your money back. Then report the matter to the police if the seller doesn’t respond.
For more advice on protecting yourself from ticket fraud, visit weetwaarjekoopt.nl and politie.nl.
Tips on recognising fake webshops are also available at sidn.nl and Fraudhelpdesk.nl.
Community partners
The police’s ticket fraud awareness campaign is a unique initiative undertaken in partnership with the community. In addition to Marktplaats and the Fraud Help Desk, the community partners are: ACM ConsuWijzer, Ajax, AVROTROS Opgelicht?!, the Consumers' Association, the European Consumers' Centre, Eventim, iDEAL, the Dutch Football Association, SIDN, Achmea Legal Aid Foundation, the Thuiswinkel trust mark scheme, Ticketmaster, Trustpilot, Veiliginternetten.nl, the Association of Event Promoters and Weetwaarjekoopt.nl. The fake webshop Ticketbewust.nl was developed by Capgemini free of charge.
