I was glad to see Choice and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission come out and warn people not to fall for scammers selling fake tickets on social media to the upcoming Taylor Swift concerts in Australia.
Because I did get sucked in. Even with all the red flags in the world waving right in my face.
Scammers are hacking social media accounts and assuming the identity of that account - often trusted community groups or businesses or even individuals.
They say they can no longer go to the Taylor Swift concert, are selling the tickets and if anyone is interested to PM them. But once any cash is transferred, all contact is lost and, of course, the ticket never arrives.
Scamwatch has already received 273 reports of people being scammed buying Taylor Swift The Eras Tour tickets via social media since tickets went on sale in Australia in June last year.
My lovely little encounter with the scammers happened on the evening of January 5.
A friend (a real one) sent me a Facebook link to a local business that said it was selling four tickets to one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney in February. My friend knew I'd had no luck buying tickets through Ticketek - like millions of Australians - and thought this might be the answer to my prayers. (Well, my 13-year-old daughter's prayers.)
This business is very well known, very much loved and very much trusted. So I went ahead and sent a message. There were four tickets for sale. Could I take two? No problems! That will be $800.
Now, as I said, there were SO many red flags. When I looked up the seat numbers for the two tickets at Accor Stadium, the numbering system on the ticket receipt was completely different to the stadium seating plan. The name of the lady supposedly selling the tickets had been misspelled. When I looked back later at the supposed Ticketek receipt the scammers sent, it said "your ticket purcharsed is complete" not "purchase". (Scammers generally have pretty woeful English).
In the online exchange, I even asked if this supposed businesswoman could call me because I was worried it was a scam. No, it's not a scam, "she" messaged back. Oh, okay then.
I mean, really, how dumb could I be?
But I chose to ignore all the warning signs because I truly thought my daughter and I were on our way to the Eras concert. I even started looking at accommodation and train timetables.
So, I transferred the $800. Yup. (How I was going to feed my children that week was somehow pushed to the back of my crazed mind.)
The person on the other end wasn't happy though. They sent back a message swearing (which I knew this lady wouldn't do) and said the transfer was still processing, could I send it again?
Um, I'm dumb, but not that dumb. That's when I started to get really panicky.
Looking back at the original Facebook post, people had posted a couple of angry face emojis. I messaged them direct. Why did they do that? Did they think it was a scam?
Ah,100 per cent it was a scam, they said. Another red flag, they told me, was the comments had been turned off - so no one could alert others it was dodgy.
"Anyone selling 4 (tickets) at a time and turning off comments is a known scam. Wishing you luck," one wrote back.
Another said: "Makes me sad. I'm desperate for four tickets and quickly losing hope".
Cue a mad call to my bank, Westpac. Thank the Lord they had already flagged the transaction as a possible scam and had put a hold on the transfer for 24 hours. I had to ring the fraud section of the bank, was on hold for three hours (there must be A LOT of scamming going on) but eventually got on to someone, explained the situation and got my money back in an instant. Suck on that, scammers!
And I ended up reporting the scam to the Queanbeyan police, as instructed by the devastated business that had been hacked.
The moral of the story, I guess, is when desperation and trust collide, it kind of makes you ripe for the picking for scammers. And if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
The ACCC says the only safe place to get Tay-Tay tickets is from the authorised reseller, Ticketek Marketplace.
The ACCC's tips to avoid being scammed:
- The safest course is to buy tickets from an authorised ticket seller.
- If you are considering an offer on social media (and we don't advise you do) - do your research. Independently contact your friend - via a different channel - and check it's legit.
- Always look for secure payment options such as PayPal or Apple/Google Pay rather than providing your credit card details to the seller.
- Be alert to the fact that scams exist.
Stop - take your time before giving money or personal information. Scammers will create a sense of urgency - they might even tell you they have other interested buyers. Don't rush to act.
Think - ask yourself if you really know who you are communicating with? Could the social media post or message be fake? Could your friend's account be hacked?
Protect - act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank and help others by reporting scams to Scamwatch.
