Yahoo News 'We lost £620 to a Taylor Swift ticket scam - we should have been more careful'
A woman who was conned out of £620 in a bid to secure Taylor Swift concert tickets has shared the moment she realised she'd been tricked. Aimee Brough, 28, along with her sisters Maisy and Fleur and partner Jonathan, had been trying to get their hands on tickets for the pop sensation's June 23 gig.
Their luck seemed to change when Maisy stumbled upon a Facebook post advertising tickets for the London show, posted by a friend of a colleague. Comforted by the fact that the seller wasn't a complete stranger, the sisters reached out to purchase four tickets at £155 each. They asked for proof of the tickets' authenticity before parting with their money, which the seller provided.
The seller then requested payment via an online banking link with Monzo, reports the Manchester Evening News. Believing the transaction to be genuine, Aimee, a partnerships manager based in Manchester city centre, proceeded to transfer the £620 in three separate transactions due to the bank's payment limit.
The sisters eagerly awaited their tickets but were met with nothing but silence. Aimee watched as the money left her Monzo account and repeatedly refreshed her emails hoping to see the tickets. After waiting for a while, they contacted the seller who assured them she was busy at work and the tickets would be sent soon.
However, after about half an hour, the sisters knew something was amiss. After failed attempts to contact the seller for updates, the sisters finally received a reply asking for an additional £200 to modify the name on the tickets. Aimee admitted that it was at this point she realised they had been conned.
"We thought, no, it costs £3 to change the name," she revealed to Manchester Evening News. Following a quick online search about Taylor Swift scams, Aimee wondered, "I started Googling Taylor Swift scams and I thought, 'Oh God, are we going to become one of these victims?'"
The sisters asked to receive the tickets before making any further payments, however, the scammer refused without receiving extra cash for the name changes. Aimee said: "We gave up after an hour. We felt really deflated, really upset and I just felt so stupid because I see myself as quite savvy and on with these things. I go to concerts all the time and I've bought resale tickets before."
Aimee admitted: "I thought because of the connection with the colleague we could trust them. We trusted that link way too much." Aimee now believes the person selling the tickets' Facebook account was genuine but was compromised by swindlers vending counterfeit passes.
The devastated fan explained how they were caught off-guard by their excitement. "We were too excited," she confessed. "We had already started messaging family in London asking if we could stay with them and we were looking up train tickets."
On trying to rectify the issue, Aimee explains, "I opened a claims dispute on Monzo and was reading that it's unlikely we will get our money back. There's some hope we could but I'm not optimistic." Aimee expressed her disappointment stressing that being scammed had left her feeling embarrassed. She is eager to publicise the incident to prevent others from falling into the same trap.
"I feel really stupid," she confessed. "I should have asked more questions throughout. I thought I was quite savvy but their tricks are so clever. We're out of pocket now and it's a lot of money for us. We're really upset about that but gutted we can't go and see Taylor in London."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Monzo issued a stark warning: "We urge customers to be vigilant when buying things on social media - with over 70% of these kinds of scams originating online - and to take steps to protect themselves by using trusted sites and ending the conversation if something doesn't feel right."
Taylor Swift is set to perform at London's Wembley Arena this Friday, Saturday and Saturday (June 21, 22 and 23) before returning for five more shows in August.
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