The worst part of being scammed for Taylor Swift tickets wasn't the $1600

Jenna never expected to be swindled out of nearly $2k from a DM from her cousin

When Jenna* received a message from her cousin on Facebook asking if she was interested in buying his four Taylor Swift tickets, she jumped on the chance to snap them up.

“I saw he posted a status on his account that he had tickets,” she told Kidspot.

“He then DM’d me and asked if I saw his post and if I was interested in grabbing them off him.”

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This wasn’t some random

The pair exchanged specifics, with the cousin sharing the exact seats and the costs over Facebook Messenger, a place where they’d had many conversations in the past.

Jenna knew a friend of hers was desperate to get her hands on tickets for her and her three kids, aged 13, 11 and 7, after a tumultuous last few weeks.

“My friend recently lost her dad, and her son has been dealing with a lot of mental health issues that have caused loads of stress on her,” she revealed.

“When I saw my cousin was selling tickets, I thought of my friend right away and started a group chat.”

“The conversation was totally normal, and no alarm bells went off until it was too late.”

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Does this look suspicious to you? Source: Supplied

The new stranger danger

After Jenna’s friend and cousin exchanged email addresses, he sent over his bank details for her to transfer the $1600; however, it was at this moment things started to look a little fishy.

“When he shared the account name with his bank details, it was a different name, and when I saw, my heart sank, and I messaged my friend in a separate chat to hold off paying,” Jenna said.

“I felt a little off about it and jumped on my cousin’s profile and noticed someone had commented on his post that the account wasn’t my cousin and they had just been scammed for fake tickets.”

But it was too late, and Jenna’s friend sent over the money via Osko, making the payment instant in the “cousin’s” account.

It turns out Jenna’s cousin’s Facebook account had been hacked, and someone was posing as him scamming all his friends.

“I tried calling his wife to see if she knew his account had been hacked, but I couldn’t get through.

“I don’t understand how someone can hack into a Facebook account and be able to do this. It would be different if it were a random person on Marketplace, but this is someone I talk to regularly, and I had no idea this sort of thing could happen,” she said.

“How could you do this to me?”

Jenna immediately called her friend in tears and apologised profusely, but the mum of three was so confused about the whole situation and couldn’t understand why Jenna would connect her with a scammer.

Despite Jenna’s attempts to assure her friend she had no idea, the mum was overwhelmed and angry and asked to be left alone.

Feeling guilty and responsible for not only causing her friend a financial loss but also having her friend’s kids face the disappointment of being “so close” to going to the show broke her heart.

“Without thinking, I transferred her the $1600,” she said.

“I felt so ill, and I couldn’t stop shaking, and I felt responsible for breaking the hearts of three kids who had been through so much lately.”

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Aussies have been scammed over $135,000 according to Scamwatch. Source: Instagram

One of thousands 

According to Scamwatch, Jenna’s story is not uncommon.

Scammers have been exploiting social media accounts to sell phony Taylor Swift tickets, particularly targeting the friends' list of compromised accounts. 

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe expressed concern over the deceitful tactics, stating, “This scam is a low act, seeking to take advantage of fans, many of whom are young and are desperately trying to secure a ticket to make their dream of seeing Taylor Swift live come true.”

Scamwatch has received 273 reports of individuals falling victim to this scam on social media since the Australian ticket sales commenced in June 2023. Australians have incurred losses exceeding $135,000, with New South Wales (114 reports, $54,645 lost) and Victoria (96 reports, $53,607 lost) being the most affected states.

The ACCC is collaborating with law enforcement and social media platforms to combat these scams. 

However, with Taylor Swift's shows in Australia already underway, Ms. Lowe emphasised, “We are urging fans to be alert to scammers and think twice before seeking to buy a ticket on social media, even if it’s from a friend or community page you trust.”

She also advised fans, “The safest way to get legitimate tickets to The Eras Tour is by purchasing tickets from the authorised reseller, Ticketek Marketplace.”

Unfortunately, Jenna may not be able to recoup her $1600 as the bank informed her that Osko payments are typically made to specially set-up accounts that are closed down as soon as the money is received.

No bad blood

Jenna's friend got her hands on two tickets from a (real) friend, but Jenna is still out of pocket and feeling very frustrated at the whole situation.

Her friend offered to pay her half, but Jenna felt guilty about the whole situation and told her not to worry.

"I tried to do something nice and look what happened," Jenna said.

*Name changed to protect privacy.

Originally published as The worst part of being scammed for Taylor Swift tickets wasn't the $1600