Ottawa residents lose more than $12,000 in Taylor Swift ticket scams this week, police say

Ottawa police are warning Swifties to be careful while buying tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert, after residents lost more than $12,000 in three days this week in online ticket scams.

Tickets to see the Eras Tour in Toronto have been in high demand after they went on sale in August.

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In a media release, Ottawa police say investigators in the Fraud Unit have received an increase in reports of fake ticket sales for the sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in recent weeks.

"Some complainants losing upwards of $2,000," police said on Twitter. "Ottawa residents have lost more than $12,000 to this scam in the last three days alone."

Police warn the public that there has been a significant increase in the risk of financial loss when conducting purchases through Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji.

Investigators recommend people use caution if buying tickets or items online from an unknown seller.

"Fraud Unit Investigators are seeing a recent trend where buyers place large deposits on unseen goods with unknown sellers, only to never receive the product," police said in a statement. "It’s vital to take the time to meet with the seller, inspect what you are buying, and question anything that seems too good to be true."

Tickets to see Taylor Swift in Toronto in November 2024 are selling for more than $1,300 each on Stubhub.

Ottawa police Det. Shaun Wahbeh says the suspects are hacking Facebook accounts to commit the frauds.

"Because the concerts are all sold out, people in Ottawa and the rest of the country are dire to get the tickets so they're searching Facebook Marketplace believing it's safe, finding profiles who are selling tickets and the bulk of them are fake profiles that they've hacked," Wahbeh tells CTV News Ottawa.

"They're getting you to send an e-transfer, upwards of $2,000 for four tickets, and then the tickets never come to you. You've already sent the money away, most of the time the money doesn't even stay in Canada."

Wahbeh says you should be "very careful" when shopping on Facebook or Kijiji.

"We're getting so many frauds with Facebook or Kijiji, and its people sending an e-transfer and not getting anything in return," Wahbeh said.

"Best bet is to meet somebody in person and see what they have."