(WXYZ) — Swifties Swindled! Taylor Swift is set to take center stage this weekend at Ford Field. It’s an opportunity for fun but it’s also an opportunity to get scammed.
Ticket prices for her upcoming shows are averaging $1,300, so more and more people are turning to third-party sellers.
But scammers are taking advantage of the desperation, duping several people using the same savvy social media ploy. Some metro Detroiters lost hundreds in an elaborate scam that’s picking up steam.
Perhaps no one deserves the title of Swiftie more than Rachael Voyta.
“I discovered Taylor in 2006,” she says.
Rachel met Taylor on her very first tour.
“Been an inspiration my whole life. It’s like we grew up together,” she says.
The inspiration is so deep that the St. Clair Shores native even picked up a guitar and began playing at local fairs and festivals, often doing Taylor Swift covers.
So, you can imagine how devastated she was when she realized she had fallen victim to Facebook fraud.
“I was tagged in something,” she says.
The scammer had hacked the Facebook account of a local community member, so Rachel’s guard was down. And just like that, $300 was gone in a swift second.
“My stomach sank, my heart fell,” she says.
And she’s not the only Swiftie to get swindled.
Dawn Aiuto was looking to score tickets for her daughter as a graduation gift. She thought she was buying them from a family friend on Facebook, but that friend had been hacked and she was out $700.
“Scammers are looking at where you’re surfing,” says Melanie Duquesnel of the Better Business Bureau.
She says this elaborate scam is nothing new but has picked up steam with scammers growing more tech-savvy.
“They’re looking at your Google searches,” Duquesnel says.
Here are the important tips from the BBB on how to avoid any “bad blood” if you’re in the market to buy:
- Buy directly from the venue whenever possible
- If shopping resale, only rely on reputable ticket vendors like StubHub or SeatGeek
- Use a safe payment method - preferably credit card
Bottom line? When you get scammed, it’s hard to shake it off, so do your homework and make sure to report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement.
