INDIANAPOLIS — It’s the end of a cruel summer, and the last leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will hit Indianapolis in a few months.
Fans are getting their outfits ready and friendship bracelets made, along with buying last-minute resale tickets.
People should be cautious buying tickets from an unknown third party, which Mallory Wilson knows about all too well.
From debut to “Tortured Poets,” she is a die hard Swiftie.
“I’ve never seen her in concert until the Eras Tour happened,” said Wilson. “I was able to get tickets to the Nashville show and had the absolute time of my life.”
Wilson was able to snag tickets for the Nashville show through a social media group, and she decided to give it another shot for the Indy stretch of the tour when she saw a person from her hometown selling tickets.
“Accounts are being hacked to add some layer of legitimacy to these claims because there’s a higher level of trust when it’s with somebody that you know,” said Jennifer Adamany with the Better Business Bureau.
The seller agreed to send screen recordings of the tickets, but refused a call with Wilson.
“She was like, ‘Well, we bought these tickets and now we can’t go to the concert, and I don’t want to talk about it at home because I don’t want my kids to know, and I don’t want them to be upset,’” said Wilson.
“I felt like that was a very justifiable reason not to be on the phone, so I kind of gave them the benefit of the doubt.”
Despite having some uneasy feelings about the profile, Wilson decided to shake it off.
“They kind of put their logic aside and lean on their heart because it’s such a heightened state, and scammers love that,” said Adamany. “… They love to get it where you’re not thinking clearly or thoroughly, so they can catch you in these situations, unfortunately.”
Once Wilson sent the money, the scammer took off in a getaway car, blocking her on everything.
Now, she’s out $800 and wants to warn fellow Swifties so they won’t also be left with bad blood.
“I do have tickets to see her in Miami, and so I just sit, and I’m like, why did I do that? Or why did I let myself be put in this situation?” Wilson said.
The Better Business Bureau said buyers can look up sellers on verifiedticketsource.com to get confirmation they’re a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers.
This gives some assurance it’s legitimate and offers a 200% purchase guarantee on tickets.
“I would say it’s way easier to be safe than sorry because you could end up losing money and not having tickets still,” Wilson said.
