Tickets, receipts and social media – Be careful!

12/01/2018 When you’ve just booked an exciting holiday, tickets to see your favourite band, or you’ve won on the football pools, it’s tempting to let your friends know by posting a picture on social media. However, you should be careful – thieves may be on the prowl!

We’ve recently had a number of reports of people falling victim to theft as a result of posting pictures of tickets on social media.

In addition to showing reference numbers, many tickets and receipts now contain scannable barcodes. If you take a picture that displays either of these pieces of information, thieves can easily use them to claim that they are the owner of the ticket.

Many traders offer a system that allows you to reclaim a lost ticket using a booking reference number. This is very handy when you can’t find your printed ticket to see a play, but less useful when someone else uses it to claim your ticket!

Betting slips and lottery tickets are another area of vulnerability. We’ve heard reports of thieves targeting punters in betting shops by asking to take a picture with their winning slip. The thieves will then immediately go to a self-service betting terminal, where they’ll use the scannable barcode to claim your winnings.

If you post a picture of a ticket or receipt on social media, we advise you to cover up any barcodes or reference numbers. This should protect you from any thieves, but the safest bet is to avoid posting a picture of anything that could be sensitive material.