Guelph woman loses $600 in Taylor Swift ticket scam
Guelph police say a local woman won’t be able to get her money back after she lost $600 trying to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets.
The woman called police on Saturday to report a scam.
She had replied to a Facebook ad offering two tickets for $300 each, sending $600 with the understanding the tickets would be transferred to her Ticketmaster account.
The woman shared copies of the messages between her and the supposed seller with officers, as well as voice note in which the seller had a notably strong accent, police said in a news release.
Officers managed to call the owner of the Facebook page who said her account had been hacked in September and she has been trying to have it deactivated ever since.
Police told the victim they would not be able to recover her funds.
“Residents are reminded to never send payment or provide personal information to anyone they do not know personally, and to be very cautious of those trying to pressure them to do so,” police said.
This is the third alert Guelph police have issued in recent months about Taylor Swift ticket scams.
In October, police warned they’d seen an increase in ticket-related fraud, specifically involving Swift’s Eras Tour.
Scammers typically create multiple fake accounts either with stolen identity details and pictures or entirely fabricated information, police said.
“They then post the fake or nonexistent concert tickets for sale online. Once a potential victim inquires about the tickets, the scammer will chat online directly with them, allowing the scammer the chance to pressure or persuade the victim into falling for their fraud,” police said in October.
“Remember, if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is.”
HOW TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED
Police have issued the following tips:
- Meet the seller in a person and at a public place
- Before meeting, do your own research, as scammers are more likely to pressure buyers if they don’t send the money fast enough
- Inspect the item first before sending any money
- Avoid making transactions through Interac E-Transfer as once the money has been deposited, the transaction cannot be reversed and likely will never be returned
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Settlement reached in complaint over Canada Post layoffs as strike hits four weeks
The union representing Canada Post workers says an unfair labour practice complaint over the company's layoffs has been resolved.
Rescue group saves 11-year-old girl floating alone in the Mediterranean for days after shipwreck
An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was found floating in the Mediterranean Sea off Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa, believed to be the only survivor of a shipwrecked migrant boat that had departed from the port of Sfax in Tunisia, a humanitarian group said Thursday.
Banks tell 2 Ontarians too much time has passed to cash decades-old cheque, GIC
Two Ontarians who recently found unclaimed money from decades-old investments were told by their banks there were no records of them in their systems.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatens to cut off energy to U.S. in response to Trump's tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has threatened to cut off energy supply to the U.S. in response to the tariffs President-elect Donald Trump plans to impose on all Canadian imports.
'We are in for more terrorism, not less,' warns Canadian terror expert amid Syria's political chaos
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime means the ticking time bomb of prisons holding thousands of suspected ISIS members in northeast Syria has become even more unstable, a Canadian terrorism expert warns.
Missing 'lost Canadians' deadline creates 'unknowable' number of new citizens: feds
The federal government is asking an Ontario Superior Court for more time to pass citizenship legislation for the "lost Canadians," saying that without an extension an "unknowable" number of people would automatically become citizens next week.
Stressed about the cost of the holidays? How to talk to loved ones about cutting back
Experts say it's common to be stressed about money around the holidays, but talking to friends and family about your budget — and maybe even agreeing to financial caps on gift-giving — can remove a lot of anxiety from the holiday season.
Elon Musk calls Justin Trudeau 'insufferable tool' in new social media post
Billionaire Elon Musk is calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'an insufferable tool' in a new social media post on Wednesday. 'Won't be in power for much longer,' Musk also wrote about the prime minister on 'X.'