Cincinnati Mom Scammed While Trying to Buy Taylor Swift Concert Tickets On Facebook
With only a few weeks remaining before all the swifties flock to watch the global pop star, Taylor Swift in the long-awaited Cincinnati concerts, there would be many buy tickets at the last moment.
Katlyn, a mom of a teenage daughter, from the east side of Cincinnati said that she was scammed when she bought two tickets off Facebook, as per WCPO Cincinnati.
She couldn't afford $1000 tickets, so she tried buying the ticket off Facebook for $250 each, as per the outlet.
When she sent the $500 via Venmo, all she received was a screenshot of the tickets, and her money never got transferred to the Ticketmaster account.
"You should get an email in your account, and I never got an email," Katelyn told the outlet.
Another similar incident was reported by USA Today, where a girl lost about $350 when she bought two fake tickets off Instagram. This transaction that she made was also via Venmo.
Most tickets are dynamic these days, meaning they automatically show up in the digital wallets of the buyer. As per Better Business Bureau, over 140 reports about ticket scams were related to concerts, theater, and sports events only.
How To Avoid Scammers Buying Tickets On Social Media
Back in 2022 when Taylor Siwft announced her Eras Tour on social media, the demand for the tickets skyrocketed and everybody turned to social media unable to get tickets on Ticketmaster, which was the only ticket-selling platform for the concert.
Always relying on Ticketmaster is easier said than done, so here are some ways to not get scammed when trying to buy tickets from Twitter, Facebook, and similar platforms.
Use PayPal: Using PayPal ensures you are protected by PayPal's purchase protection, this will keep your financial information safe and also makes you eligible for a full refund in case of any illegitimacy.
@erastourresell, a legitimate Twitter handle that connects people who want to buy tickets to people who want to sell, tweeted that as soon as scammers hear about PayPal, they simply "run".
Always Ask The Seller To Send You Their Purchase Details: Always remember when you are buying on social media, you are repurchasing the ticket. So, asking them to send you a copy of the original purchase receipt acts as proof.
Notice the red flags: If the deal is too good to be true, it is most probably a scam. That doesn't mean that an astounding price guarantees legitimacy, but if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Some Concert Ticket Scams You Should Know About
Ticketmaster Lookalikes: Look for similar-looking websites that show up in your search result. Beware. Sometimes they will even use similar names on top of very similar UX. Some examples, are Ticketmaester.com, TicketFaster.com, and more.
As per Ticketmaster, "It will never ask you to buy an Amazon Gift Card, iTunes Gift Card, money order any other third-party gift card."
Beware of Fake Tickets: Always take your time and read the small prints as scammers have time and again replicated tickets. Verifying the barcodes and the other security elements is also a great practice, as per Metro.
How To Buy Last-Minute Tickets For Taylor Swift's Cincinnati Concert?
You can still buy the tickets but the lowest seats available right now is for $1175 on Vivid Seats. According to the publication, there's still a chance that the prices might drop so keep refreshing the page!
However, if the prices are too high (which it is) then you can always wait for her 'Eras Tour' at a later date.