Thousands of fans of the pop star Taylor Swift are being scammed out of over $1 million by fraudsters who are claiming to be selling tickets to her concerts in the U.K., and the same thing could be happening in the U.S. as well.
Swift Ticket Scam
Daily Mail reported that officials at Lloyds Bank are saying that over 600 of their own customers have fallen for this scam involving Swift tickets. They also estimate that once other lenders are taken into account, the actual number of victims will be over 3,000 with losses of over $1.2 million.
Lloyds has found that the average loss per victim is $413, though some have lost over $1,200. The fans most likely to be targeted are between the ages of 25 and 34, and most are falling for the scam via social media. These victims are asked to pay for the Swift tickets upfront, but once the money is sent, the scammer disappears.
“It’s easy to let our emotions get the better of us when we find out our favorite artist is going to be performing live, but it’s important not to let those feelings cloud our judgment,” said Liz Ziegler, Lloyds’ fraud prevention chief.
“Don’t be tempted to buy tickets from anyone other than authorized sellers, as your rights can be significantly reduced,” added Lisa Webb of consumer champions Which?. “We recommend you pay using your credit card if the tickets cost more than £100.”
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Victim Speaks Out
When 38 year-old Karen Elrick’s Facebook account was hacked back in December, scammers took over her account and began impersonating her while posting about putting Swift tickets up for sale. She had multiple friends fall for this, with each of them paying £750 ($934) before finding out that the tickets were not real.
“I know of at least three, but I think the police said there were four that have actually bought the tickets,” Elrick told The BBC. “And I think as soon as the money’s gone through, they’re then just blocked on the Facebook account.”
Elrick, who lives in Glasgow, has never been able to regain access to her account and Facebook has yet to remove it despite multiple requests from her to do so. The scammers still regularly post about fake Swift tickets, leaving them up for a day before deleting them so they aren’t there if Facebook ends up investigating. Police have tried to track down the scammers, but they’ve made little progress.
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‘It’s Horrible’
“It’s horrible,” she added. “You just feel very helpless because it’s friends of yours that are losing money. They obviously realize quite quickly it’s not me that’s stealing from them, but it’s just not a nice feeling.”
“It’s totally out of my control and there doesn’t seem to be anything that anyone can help with. Nobody seems to be able to do anything,” Elrick concluded. “If you see Taylor Swift tickets on Facebook, it’s likely a scam.”
Whether you are a Swift fan or not, this serves as a reminder to be mindful when it comes to anything you see on social media that involves paying money. There are tons of scams out there these days, and you do not want to fall for them!
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