$1.24 million is lost by Taylor Swift fans in a fake concert ticket scam

Taylor Swift had a phenomenal 2023, as her Eras Tour completely rocked the music industry. Swift even won Time Magazine’s Person of the Year award for her incredible performances in several nations across the world. The singer-songwriter is now getting ready to embark on a new leg of her global tour in May and carry it through the summer. Fans of the pop star are struggling ahead of her tour because they are falling victim to an increasing number of concert ticket frauds.

According to an estimate released by Lloyd Bank on Wednesday, since July of last year, over 3,000 people had been duped into purchasing bogus tickets. According to the British bank, these victims have already lost almost $1.24 million to con artists posing as Taylor Swift concert ticket sellers. The bank issued a warning and said that over 600 Lloyds Banking Group clients have reported being conned as of this writing. The Times of India said that the average amount lost by each scam victim is £332, or around Rs 34,000. In many instances, the lost sum surpassed one lakh rupees as well. The bank also pointed out that in over 90% of instances that were recorded, people were tricked by Facebook pages.

“Fans aged 25 to 34 who are trying to get their hands on sold-out tickets are most likely to be targeted, with many scams originating on social media,” Lloyds cautioned in a statement that was cited by the Independent. It also said that a more thorough examination of the frauds indicates that among those targeted last summer were followers of well-known musicians like Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Harry Styles.

Specifically, the frauds include the use of phony social media ads that offer tickets for events that have already sold out at inflated pricing at lower rates than the actual ones. “Don’t be tempted to buy tickets from anyone other than authorised sellers, as your rights can be significantly reduced if something goes wrong,” said Liz Ziegler, director of fraud prevention at Lloyds Bank. We advise using PayPal or your credit card to pay for tickets if they are more than £100 since these options may provide protection in the event that anything goes wrong.

Swift’s Eras Tour will return to Paris on May 9th. August 20 in London will mark the end of the European trip. Conversely, the concert’s US performances will begin in October.