Wimbledon scams: Bots are beating humans to the gates of Centre Court
Bots are blitzing Wimbledon’s ticketing platform, scooping up tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of seats every minute while real deal fans scramble for scraps.
A new investigation by cyberfraud firm Datadome has exposed just how exposed the system is – and it’s not a good look for the world’s 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 £40,000 worth of tickets per minute – including £2,000-a-pair hospitality packages – without hitting a single barrier.
“There were no basic security checks like CAPTCHA challenges or behavioural checks”, the report found.
Bots weren’t 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 £73,000 – up nearly 60 per cent from last cycle.
Centre court debentures hit £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’s 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 £9.7m lost.
Over 1,000 fraud reports came in June alone – and summer’s only just started.
Aviram Ganor, EMEA general manager atfraud prevention firm Riskifield, told City AM: “Fraud changes all the time…it’s a continuous rat race”.
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.
“The government’s decision to price cap will just not work”, said Matt Drew, who oversees business development at Viagogo, a ticket reselling market. “The countries that do cap their ticket prices – Ireland and Australia – have seen a rapid increase in fraud. This will only push fans into riskier, unregulated channels”.
A study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates such a cap would drain £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 “unified space for ticketing where everyone, and all information, is connected”.
“Fans deserve to know what they’re paying for, and who they’re buying from. Without transparency, the cycle will continue unchecked.”