A Calgary family has been left devastated after being targeted by scammers who “stole” their daughter’s dream gift.
Jennifer Thompson and her 10-year-old daughter Celtie are avid Taylor Swift fans. They’ve been trying for “what seems like forever” to get tickets to her concert.
“Taylor has taken over our life,” Thompson told Global News. “Every day we’re blasting Taylor in our house.”
As luck would have it, dad Marc Pepin, recently found tickets to Swift’s tour online. A friend had shared a post from someone they knew, who was selling four tickets.
“I contacted the original poster and told them I was interested in the tickets,” Pepin told Global News. “I also reached out directly to my friend who shared the post and asked, ‘Hey do you know this person? Is it legit?’ They vouched for it and said it was their cousin.”
Pepin said he then agreed to a price with the seller — $2,000 for four tickets. The seller promised to transfer the tickets through Ticketmaster, but then started asking for more things including more money.
“They were asking for more money to validate the tickets. And then we were to send that money to a different email address. That’s when the red flags really went off.”
But it was too late, the money was already gone. He asked several times for it to be refunded, but said it never was, and he was eventually blocked.
“It’s not so much the money,” he added. “You can always make more money. Yeah, $2,000 — don’t get me wrong — it’s a lot of money. Way over any kind of budget we had.”
“But it’s more the disappointment of really wanting to provide that experience for my wife and daughter. That’s what I’m most hurt about. I really wanted that for them.”
The couple told Global News they wanted to go public to warn others, admitting they were lulled into a sense of security by the fact someone they knew had posted the tickets.
“It was really getting that validation from the friend that kind of pushed some of those (red flags) to the side I guess,” Pepin said.
Thompson called her husband an “incredible” man who goes above and beyond to make sure his family is happy and taken care of.
She said the fact he had been taken advantage of was heartbreaking.
“Marc tried to do this explosive grand gesture and it was incredible,” she said. “The thought — but he does so much every day.”
“I was so excited that he did this,” she said tearfully. “The thought of it warmed my heart, The loss of the money was terrifying. The fact that he got taken advantage of — broke my heart too.”
The couple said despite this hardship — the scammers will not break their Christmas spirt, or their love for each other — or even TayTay.
“We just want to turn it into a positive thing,” Thompson said. “So right now, I’m trying to purchase a Taylor Swift sweater as a gift for her.”
Her advice for the Christmas season is simple — grand gestures are great but everyday ones are just as good.
“Just appreciate your loved ones.”
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