A SECOND woman in Limerick has been left with a blank space in her bank account after falling victim to a scam involving Taylor Swift tickets.
Gardaí nationwide have received a number of reports of online ticket scams as the date grows closer to the superstar singer’s Aviva Stadium shows on June 28, 29, and 30.
It was a case of bad blood on Thursday, May 9 when a Corbally woman lost €360 to a fraudulent seller on Facebook purporting to sell tickets to see the ‘Love Story’ star in June.
According to Sergeant Ber Leetch, of Henry Street Garda Station, the woman, in her late 20s, saw another woman on Facebook selling tickets for the Taylor Swift concert.
“The woman from Corbally sent €360 to the seller via Revolut. The transaction was completed but the tickets were not received,” she said.
Sergeant Leetch added that the seller has since deleted her Facebook page and is now uncontactable.
“There is such a huge demand for Taylor Swift concert tickets and the scammers know this,” Sergeant Leetch said.
“The buyers are too excited and in such a hurry to grab these tickets that they may not check out the situation properly. If you are buying anything online always, ask yourself – Could this be a scam? Have I any solid information that could lead me to this seller if I do not receive the tickets or item? If you have any doubt, just stop.”
The start of a cruel summer, the scammed Corbally woman is the second Limerick person in recent weeks to far to fall victim to scammers selling alleged Taylor Swift tickets.
A 23-year-old Swiftie in Castletroy was stung in April when she lost €700 to an online scammer also purporting to sell Swift tickets.
Similar to the Corbally scam victim, the Castletroy Swift fan handed over the sum via Revolut to a seller on Facebook for what she believed to be three tickets to the Eras Tour concert. The seller also deleted their page, leaving the scammed fan with no means of getting her money back.
“When you are buying online, only buy from reputable sites. Criminals know that Taylor Swift tickets are almost impossible to get, so they advertise these to bait somebody into parting with cash,” she said.
