By Saskia Koopman
Bots are blitzing Wimbledon鈥檚 ticketing platform, scooping up tens of thousands of pounds鈥 worth of seats every minute while real deal fans scramble for scraps.
A new investigation by cyberfraud firm Datadrome has exposed just how exposed the system is 鈥 and it鈥檚 not a good look for the world鈥檚 most prestigious tennis tournament.
Despite a no-resale policy and a recent jail sentence handed to a Wimbledon ticket tout, the club appears to have done little to shield its website from scalper software.
In testing, bots were able to hoover up 拢40,000 worth of tickets per minute 鈥 including 拢2,000-a-pair hospitality packages 鈥 without hitting a single barrier.
鈥淭here were no basic security checks like CAPTCHA challenges or behavioural checks鈥, the report found.
Bots weren鈥檛 even required to mimic normal human activity, like scrolling or mouse movement.
Wimbledon: Prices up, protection down
It comes as Wimbledon prices hit new highs. Debenture seats for court one from 2027 to 2031 now cost 拢73,000 鈥 up nearly 60 per cent from last cycle.
Centre court debentures hit 拢116,000 last year, a 45 per cent jump. The All England Club has said the steep hikes will help fund a major expansion of the grounds, including a third show court and bigger fan areas.
But with demand higher than ever, scalpers are thriving. Despite Wimbledon鈥檚 tradition of ballot-based ticketing and orderly queuing, automated buyers are snatching tickets in bulk before genuine fans get a chance.
Fraudsters are taking advantage of the chaos. Action Fraud data shows UK ticket scams surged nearly 50 per cent last year, with 拢9.7m lost.
Over 1,000 fraud reports came in June alone 鈥 and summer鈥檚 only just started.
Aviram Ganor, EMEA general manager atfraud prevention firm Riskifield, told City AM: 鈥淔raud changes all the time鈥t鈥檚 a continuous rat race鈥.
One in eight people who buy ticketss via social media platforms are being left empty-handed.
Price caps or more risk?
In response to growing pressure, the UK government is exploring a price cap on resale tickets. But experts warn it could backfire.
鈥淭he government鈥檚 decision to price cap will just not work鈥, said Matt Drew, who oversees business development at Viagogo, a ticket reselling market. 鈥淭he countries that do cap their ticket prices 鈥 Ireland and Australia 鈥 have seen a rapid increase in fraud. This will only push fans into riskier, unregulated channels鈥.
A study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates such a cap would drain 拢183m from the UK economy as resale is suppressed and tickets go unused.
Instead, industry voices are pushing for better transparency and tech-led solutions.
Drew told City AM the sector needs a 鈥渦nified space for ticketing where everyone, and all information, is connected鈥.
鈥淔ans deserve to know what they鈥檙e paying for, and who they鈥檙e buying from. Without transparency, the cycle will continue unchecked.鈥