CINCINNATI — As Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was scheduled to make its stop in Cincinnati, servicing residents of Miami Valley, officials were warning fans of purchasing scam items.
>> RELATED: Cincinnati expects major economic boost from Taylor Swift concerts
The Better Business Bureau warned of scams hitting the market as fans were eager to still obtain tickets to the highly sought after show. The organization reported re-sale value of the tickets at well over a thousand dollars per ticket.
The re-sale value of the tickets have shot up so high because of the number of people who wished to obtain a ticket, but were unable to due to the limited number of seats even in the large arenas that the pop star chooses to plays in.
The high re-sale value coupled with the skyrocketing demand have left scammers with the perfect breeding ground to dupe unsuspecting customers.
As a result, the Better Business Bureau warned potential customers of purchasing the tickets from untrusted vendors such as social media sites with many claiming to have the highly prized tickets. Trusted vendors were the recommended source because of the safe guards that they have in place to check the legitimacy of each ticket.
Another method of avoiding scams was to not fall for “too good to be true” deals. These tickets were expected to be expensive so if there was a ticket for a low price, then it should be considered a red flag.
“This is prime time for scam artists. They know it’s getting close. They know people are getting desperate you know we’ve heard so many stories and you know her her biggest fan base are our young girls. And if you have a young daughter, you know you’ve heard their pleas to you know, purchase tickets and Something may come across your social media, and it looks legit, but it probably isn’t,” Better Business Bureau President and CEO John North told News Center 7 Reporter Xavier Hershovitz.
Beyond tickets, scammers also sold unofficial merchandise to people who wanted to avoid long lines at the official merchandise shops at each concert venue.
“When you’re at the concert, the clothing line that they have or the memorabilia is more than likely going to be legitimate. They would have been checked out by Taylor Swift people as well as the venue in order to let them come in,” North said.
“But once you’re out there, you may buy a t-shirt that has the name of an artist on it. And, you just got to know is it legitimate or not? And, are you okay with it being not a legitimate per just, but no, you should pay significantly less for a shirt that you find at a store. Then those things that you would find at the concert venue itself,” North continued.
Buyers were also advised to use credit cards as credit card companies often placed safe guards to prevent scam purchases.
© 2023 Cox Media Group
