Swiftie scam alert: BBB warns of fake Taylor Swift concert tickets

SEATTLE (KOMO) — It's one of the hottest tickets in town: Taylor Swift's "Eras tour" is technically sold out, but that's not stopping fans from trying to get a ticket.

And that demand invites opportunities for scammers.

Anna Kong is a die-hard Swiftie. She has been waiting for this weekend, when Swift performs in Seattle, for quite awhile.

"I'm so excited," Kong said. "I've been waiting. She's been on tour for months and months."

Kong has her ticket to see Taylor Swift at Lumen Field, but for those without passes and hoping to get one for either Saturday or Sunday, the Better Business Bureau has a warning for ticket seekers.

One Taylor Swift fan reported to us that the seller was a verified seller, whatever that means, and that she was an admin in the Facebook group," the BBB's Logan Hickle said. "A transaction took place over Zelle, unfortunately, and after the transaction occurred the seller failed to send those tickets and failed to send a refund.

So far in 2023, the BBB has received 48 reports to its scam tracker mentioning Taylor Swift, which means a scam was attempted or successful.

In another case, another person reported that they found a website that looks identical to the real Taylor Swift website," Hickle said. "They found it because it was sponsored when they searched on Google. It was right there at the top of the search results, but it wasn't the real T. Swift website.

The BBB advises to double-check the URL before making a purchase. It also says only buy tickets from trusted vendors and look to reputable ticket brokers before doing business with a scalper or stranger on social media.

"If you think you know the seller, you need to double-check," Hickle said. "Scammers may hack your contacts accounts and pretend to be a friend or acquaintance who's selling tickets. Reach out directly to them to make sure the deal is real."

The BBB said to use your credit card, be wary of printed tickets and watch out for the too-good-to-be-true deals.

"Since Seattle is the only place in the Pacific Northwest that she's coming to, I feel like there's going to be a lot of people from all over just coming in," Kong said.

Kong's ready to join the crowd and see Taylor sparkle in the Emerald City. When it comes to ticket prices, the lowest available price found was on StubHub for Saturday was going for more than $1,000