Taylor Swift ticket scams: Don't be fooled by fake ticket sellers online

ATLANTA - People were gearing up for Taylor Swift's Atlanta concerts starting Friday. Tickets have been hard to come by from the beginning, and scammers are looking to make some money off of people dying to get in to see the show.

Alison Self was excited about the chance to get to see Taylor Swift again in Atlanta after seeing her on her last tour. 

"I went to her Reputation Tour, and really enjoyed it, and I thought, ‘OK, that would be fun to go to the big Eras Tour,’" Self said.

"I did not try to look for tickets from the very beginning though because it felt like it was going to be impossible," she added. 

She hoped to get her hands on a last-minute deal. That is when she saw someone selling their tickets in a Facebook group. She was sent screenshots of the tickets, which were being sold much cheaper than the going rates on bigger sites.

"I thought, you know, maybe people are selling them for what they bought them for, and are being honest about that," Self said. 

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at NRG Stadium on April 21, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

After sending the seller $200 through Venmo, she was never sent the actual ticket. 

"I think we get excited, like oh my gosh, there's a chance to do this, and that's where they're getting us, right? This is something we really want," Self explained. 

"There's often a story behind it, what we call social engineering, the more detail the more story the more believable it is," Jeff Wolfe, vice president of fraud with USAA, said.

Experts say online scams like this are common for highly sought after events. 

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is, and you should probably avoid it," Wolfe said.

When it comes to payment, experts suggest only using a method that offers buyer protection.

"Really understand the terms and conditions of the payment method you're using should something go wrong. I think, generally debit card and credit card is going to be much safer than using something like Venmo," Wolfe explained.

Self said this is something she will never do again.

"Just go through the actual website, which is just going to cost you six times more, but guess what, it's going to actually provide the tickets," she explained. 

The BBB recommends only buying from trusted vendors, like Ticketmaster or Stubhub, to ensure you actually get tickets.