Cruel winter for B.C. Swifties bilked of thousands of dollars in ticket scams

It’s shaping up to be a cruel winter for some B.C. Taylor Swift fans, who were scammed out of thousands of dollars.

North Vancouver RCMP issued a public warning Thursday after two reports of people forking over cash to a purported ticket seller on Facebook Marketplace, only to be left staring at a blank space.

In the first case, police said the buyer agreed to buy tickets for one of the pop star’s upcoming Vancouver shows for $1,020.

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But when the victim e-transferred the money, the scammer sent them an email with a wallet attachment but no actual instructions for a Ticketmaster transfer. When the victim tried to contact the seller again, they didn’t respond.

In the second case, the buyer agreed to buy four tickets for $1,400. After they e-transferred the cash, the seller asked for another $400. The seller eventually sent a ticket email to the buyer — but without a passcode to redeem them. As in the first case, they then stopped responding to messages, leaving the victim out $1,800 in total.

Police are warning anyone seeking resale tickets to avoid person-to-person platforms like e-transfers, unless they personally know the seller.

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They also advise against buying tickets from strangers on websites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Mounties say that scammers often use a sense of urgency as a tool, and advise buyers to do their due diligence before buying anything. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, police say.

And, police say, if there is a physical exchange of cash for tickets, it should be done in a safe, public setting.