As pop icon Taylor Swift has been touring the world, her concerts have an economy of their own. Tickets and friendship bracelets for the event are part of the “Swiftie” fan experience, while the lead-up to her concerts has sold out hotel rooms and shaken up (quite literally) entire venues.
But some fans have encountered the unwelcome downside of all the excitement—the scams.
With Swifties gearing up to bring the Eras Tour back to the U.K. this summer, it turns out the number of frauds has been rising, too.
Lloyds, one of Britain’s largest banks, warned its 26 million customers this week that it has seen a spike in ticketing scams for Swift’s upcoming concerts, with fans losing an estimated £1 million ($1.25 million) so far since tickets went on sale last July.
Over 600 customers have complained about being defrauded with fake tickets, Lloyds Bank said in a release Wednesday. Each victim parted with an average of £332 ($414) as a result, although some lost over £1,000.
The bulk of these cases were linked to Facebook Marketplace, the bank said.
It’s likely that far more people who are non–Lloyds Bank users have fallen prey to such ploys, raising the alarm about scammers who are making the most of Swifties’ eagerness to watch her widely anticipated tour. Even when Swift brought her tour to the U.K. last year, there was a jump in the number of ticket frauds reported.
“Cruel fraudsters have wasted no time in targeting her most loyal fans as they rush to pick up tickets for her must-see concerts,” said the bank’s fraud prevention director, Liz Ziegler.
“If you’re being asked to pay by bank transfer, particularly from a seller you’ve found on social media, that should immediately set alarm bells ringing,” she noted.
To be sure, such scams aren’t unique to Swift’s tour alone—fans of other artists like Harry Styles and Coldplay were also impacted.
The force that is Taylor Swift
When Swift arrives for her concerts, cities brace themselves for inflation in local services linked to travel and accommodations.
For instance, in the lead-up to the billionaire pop star’s appearance in Sydney earlier this year, the Australian Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock said the country had made some spending adjustments.
Countries have looked to Swift’s concert to help boost tourism, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic’s travel curbs are in the rearview mirror.
But that’s not all—the “All Too Well” songwriter has seen the frenzy over her music pave the way for jobs to probe her cultural influence and has even helped send vinyl sales to record highs.
With Swift’s U.K. stops nearing, people are waiting with bated breath to see her full impact on the economy—whether good or bad.
