Buying Taylor Swift resale tickets? Here's how to avoid getting scammed (2024)

It's a story we know all too well: Concert tickets for an international high-profile act go on sale, the dreaded “sold out” sign, and suddenly, a deluge of listings for concert tickets materialise on e-commerce platforms – at double the price or more.

FromBlackpinkandColdplayto, most recently, Taylor Swift, this trend has led to some desperate fansresorting to buying tickets from scalpers. These are usually sold at a very high markup, with these resellers often citing the "hassle" and "stress of queuing up" as reasons for the price increase.

Paying scalpers exorbitant prices is already quite the headache. But to complicate things, fans also now have to contend with actual scammers posing as resellers, who then sell fake tickets or ghost you entirely.

Independent Malaysian news portal Free Malaysia Today recently reported a case where a buyer – upon seeing Taylor Swift show tickets for sale on e-commerce marketplace Carousell – transferred RM11,500 (S$3,325) to a seller in hopes of securing them. The seller went missing after three transactions were made to a bank account they had provided.

Explaining the modus operandi of such scammers, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) concert ticket scam advisory illustrates similar cases, where scammers provide screenshots and videos of tickets or receipts that appear legitimate, only to become uncontactable once payment is made.

Alternatively, some victims are sent tickets upon payment, only to find out on concert day that these were invalid.

Since the start of the year, scammers have cheated more than 400 concertgoers of at least S$480,000.

HOW TO AVOID GETTING SCAMMED

A spokesperson from Carousell cautioned: “Buyers who purchase tickets from third-party vendors will generally increase the risk of dealing with scammers, who may be selling counterfeit or stolen tickets.”

So what do you do if youdodecide to try your luck buying from resellers online? How do you avoid getting scammed?

1. Be wary of those asking for a deposit

First of all, be very wary of those asking for deposits.A quick check on Carousell showed many sellers of Taylor Swift ticketsrequesting for a non-refundable deposit of 50 per cent or more for these.

Why is this problematic? It's because the actual tickets (assuming these are even real) have not been disbursed to the original purchaser by Ticketmaster just yet and will only do so weeks before the shows in March 2024.

According to the US Ticketmaster website, thisdelayed delivery systemis meant to “prevent tickets from being accessed until we can confirm everyone has adhered to the event ticket limit and didn’t use unfair ticket technology to buy in bulk.”

Soany screenshots of confirmation emails from Ticketmaster that listings display could be fabricated or stolen online.

2. Do background checks

A spokesperson for Carousell urged buyers to be “cautious” and to “do their background checks” when arranging deals. When buying stuff online, it's always good to "buy the seller" not what they're selling, which means looking at reviews or doing a bit of Googling.

Similarly, the SPF advisory reminds buyers that online sellers are “strangers” and to verify the authenticity of the physical tickets before making payment. Which means maybe you'd want to...

3. See those tickets in the flesh and don't get pressured

Consider physically meeting up to check the tickets in person. While in Swift's case, it isn't quite possible anytime soon, you should also weigh giving in to that FOMO feeling.Yes, Taylor Swift tickets are in demand but a potential scammer might also be creating a "false sense of urgency" that they have other buyers lined up to pressure you into completing the transaction quickly.

4. Check against resources that fans are putting together

Bad blood between fans and dubious resellers has "Swifties" fighting back against fraudulent transactions:Telegram chat groups that were previously set up for general discussion about Taylor Swift show tickets have now evolved into a community-led effort to expose scalpers and scammers.

In one particular chat group, some 10,000 local and international "Swifties" work with a moderator to frequently update a live Google Sheets document to prevent others from falling victim to scams.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT SUSPICIOUS LISTINGS AND FAKE TICKETS

Carousell also encourages users to report any suspicious listings and users via the "Report Listing" and "Report User" feature available on their website and the app.

According to a spokesperson, ticket listings that look too good to be true or questionable can be reported via the "Suspicious account" option, while listings priced at low amounts (eg $0 or $1), with the intention to sell at a much higher price can be reported under "Mispriced listings".

Should tickets purchased from a seller eventually turn out to be fake, buyers can make a report via the “Selling counterfeit items" option.

Carousell told CNA Lifestyle that actual fraud cases (which is different from a "dispute") will be "investigated” and fraudulent sellers will see their account suspended and banned permanently if they are identified as having committed fraud after the investigation.

"We also encourage users to make a police report that references the scammer’s user ID to ensure cases are pinpointed accurately to the suspect," said the spokesperson.

BUT THERE ARE LIMITS TO WHAT CAROUSELL CAN DO

All these said, there are limits to what online platforms can do should things go south. “As the sale of concert tickets in Singapore depends on the terms and conditions entered into directly between the respective organisers and/or ticketing agents and the buyer, Carousell is not privy to and not in a position to enforce these third-party agreements,” said the spokesperson.

“However, Carousell will review on a case-by-case basis if the respective organisers and ticketing agents are able to provide evidence of known illegal activity. If Carousell receives any report or comes across any listing that has potentially illegal transactions, we will investigate further and take action where necessary.”

BONUS: WHAT ABOUT TICKETS BOUGHT USING BYPASS LINKS?

There’s also the fear of buying tickets from resellers who may have used a bypass link to obtain them.

Bypass links are mechanisms that engage the help of bots to automatically complete forms and skip queues to move directly to the checkout page. Services offering this workaround were seen advertised on Carousell before Taylor Swift concert tickets went on sale last week, and continue to remain listed.

Such methods of obtaining tickets are considered illegal and may be subject to investigation according to Ticketmaster Singapore’s terms of use page.

So there is a chance that tickets purchased illegallyand resold to you could be voided over the next few months by Ticketmaster, leaving you stuck with nothing.

Screenshots have been making their rounds online of an alleged email from Ticketmaster voiding tickets and banning the account of someone who had used a bypass link to obtain tickets illegally.

It is unclear if the email is genuine and if Ticketmaster will be taking action to void the tickets of suspected scalpers.As of press time, Ticketmaster Singapore has not responded to CNA Lifestyle's queries.