Toronto police are encouraging Torontonians to take their time with “good deals” as people continue to get scammed for Taylor Swift concert tickets, following the latest Ticketmaster security breach.
A few weeks ago, ticket-selling giant Ticketmatser sent an email to their customers saying their personal data may have been affected after an unauthorized third party obtained information from a cloud database hosted by a third-party data services provider during Apr. 2 to May 18 this year.
“The personal information that may have been obtained by the third party may have included your name, basic contact information, and payment card information such as encrypted credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates,” Ticketmaster said in the email
On July 19, a Hamilton woman was all set to purchase four concert tickets to Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” stop in Toronto this November, but had a feeling that the Fcacebook seller she was dealing with could have been hacked.
Read More
Jessica Appleby posted screenshots of the conversation she had with the buyer on Facebook group Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch.
Appleby said she pleaded to receive the tickets first for confirmation and then pay, but the buyer kept pushing to receive the payment first while sending pictures of a transfer button at the bottom of a Ticketmaster page. Their name allegedly didn’t match their email and some of the details on the ticket were misleading.
Instead of sending the money, Appleby said she checked the buyer’s mutual Facebook friends and reached out to one of the people that liked the seller’s original post.
“Definitely a scam! He was hacked. Do not send money,” they told Appleby.
Now Toronto reached out to Appleby for a comment but did not receive a response in time of publication.
Some Torontonians online are noticing the T-Swift ticket scam is an ongoing issue.
“They did this with my husband’s grandmother who passed away. They were on her account selling Taylor Swift tickets. They’re relentless and will do anything,” one Facebook user commented on Appleby’s post.
“And Facebook does nothing if you report it. I wish they had a better policy about this stuff,” another person commented.
“Swift tickets [are] a very common scam. It’s happening daily,” someone else said.
X account “End of the Eras Scammers” was created to call out scammers in Toronto and other major cities where the singer is touring. The account posts reports of social media accounts that are potentially hacked and trying to sell fake tickets.
Despite these scams happening on the networking platform, there are several Canadian groups on Facebook to buy and sell tickets, with some groups having nearly 20,000 members.
One of the Toronto Rogers Centre specific groups for tickets has strict rules where only the admin can initiate buying and selling of tickets to prevent scams.
In response to ongoing online scams in the city, Toronto Police Service (TPS) posted a video earlier this month warning people of online ticket scams and to report any scams to the police as soon as possible.
“As for most criminals it is a crime of opportunity and sometimes as a consumer looking to get a good deal you are not in the right mind frame to ask more questions or see the deal for what it is and that is – “too good to be true,” TPS Spokesperson Sinderela Chung told Now Toronto on Friday.
“Most victims are in a vulnerable state when they are scammed and sometimes too embarrassed to report it or to get advice from a friend or family member when they realize what has happened. Take your time with any type of “good deals” that you come across and purchase from the authorized dealer,” Chung continued.
By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
