Taylor Swift ticket scams are rampant online. How one fan (mostly) managed to avoid one.
Kayla Middlemist's conversation over Instagram with a stranger started out normally enough. The other person claimed to have four tickets to one of Taylor Swift's three Indianapolis Eras Tour shows in November and Middlemist had been trying to snag tickets to a concert an easy drive from her Missouri home.
First Middlemist asked for the price and the location. She then asked for a screen recording video of the tickets on the seller's phone, which the seller said in a message they could not do because the tickets were on a computer. Although the refusal raised red flags for Middlemist, she sent $200 for just the first ticket using the goods and services payment option on PayPal.
Seconds later, PayPal issued her a refund, warning her of fraudulent activity. The tickets weren't real.
Looking back, Middlemist sees the warning signs, such as the moderate price per ticket and the seller's desire to use a different feature on PayPal, which would not have offered her the same protections.
As the Taylor Swift concert dates approach, ticket scammers appear to be infiltrating seemingly every social media group designated for ticket resales, preying on desperate fans prepared to drop hundreds or thousands of dollars for the biggest live music tour in history.
Like Middlemist, many fans looking for tickets in these groups tried and failed to secure tickets through a Ticketmaster verified fan presale. And with only three cities in the U.S. left on the tour, demand is higher than ever for the Indianapolis leg, running Nov. 1-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Cybersecurity experts say Eras Tour scams are rampant because they fall under high-price ticket scamming, where bad actors can earn a high commission for a low amount of effort.
The higher value of the item, the more scams are out there.
"The reason why it’s blown up is because it’s working. People are getting paid well for the time they are actually committing their scams," said Cody Tyler, managing director of EXOS CYBER, a division of Indianapolis-based EXOS Companies.
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Tyler likened the phenomenon to Super Bowl tickets, where scammers target once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and can hone their tactics on a certain city to which thousands of people are traveling.
Although there is always some risk, experts say people looking for resale tickets online can protect themselves by using a specific feature on PayPal, meeting in person to exchange tickets in a safe, public place or asking Lucas Oil Stadium to verify tickets.
Use PayPal goods and services
Although a handful of apps can be used to transfer money digitally, including Venmo, Zelle and CashApp, most do not protect those sending the money from any risk associated with such transactions.
PayPal offers one of the safest ways to protect yourself and your money with its good and services payment option, which can be selected before paying another user. If buyers pay through goods and services, they can be compensated if they never receive the item they purchased.
Under the goods and services policy, sellers pay a small fee to receive the money, but both parties are covered for the risk of the transaction.
Buyers who use the donations payment or other apps authorize the transactions and take responsibility for sending the money. Many people are accustomed to those types of payments in daily life, using them for a range of payments from evening up with friends to tipping. That familiarity makes it easier for scammers to persuade buyers to send money online, Tyler said.
'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is'
Less than three months out from the Indianapolis concerts, official resale tickets are selling well above face value, with the lowest price on StubHub lingering around $2,000 for a nosebleed seat. Anything selling for significantly less than that should raise questions, experts say.
For Middlemist, who lives in Jefferson City, Missouri, those $2,000 and up tickets are out of her price range, but after her experience with the would-be scammer, she is scared to keep searching for tickets on social media in the "black market" of ticket sales.
Middlemist's advice for other Swifties looking for tickets is to be wary of sellers who are solely messaging and refuse to meet in person or talk on the phone. She also pointed to Eras Tour Resell, an X account ran by three fans who facilitate ticket sales between Swifties at face value prices and verify tickets with sellers before transactions, as a page she would trust.
Ask Ticketmaster, StubHub, Lucas Oil Stadium for confirmation
Ticket holders should confirm the authenticity of their tickets with Ticketmaster or Stubhub as an extra affirmative step before the concert, said Executive Director of IU's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research Professor Scott Shackleford.
Shackleford added that the venue, Lucas Oil Stadium, should be able to verify real tickets.
"If you’re at all concerned, you can make sure the ticket is associated with the correct name" of the person selling the ticket, Shackleford said.
"And if you did pay for a Taylor Swift ticket and it ends up being a cybercrime, dispute the charge," he said.
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If possible, meet in person to exchange tickets
While any online marketplace poses increased risks for fraud, Tyler said he would not recommend all together ditching social media groups, noting they can be places to engage with real sellers, particularly if they offer to meet in person to exchange tickets.
"Personally, I've have bought Colts tickets that way, where you meet up with that person at the box office face-to-face and see the original seller," Tyler said.
Safe places to meet could include a bank or police station.
Alysa Guffey covers growth and development for IndyStar. Contact her at amguffey@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Taylor Swift scams are rampant. Here's how fans, experts spot them.
