Yahoo Finance Taylor Swift fans lose up to £600 as scammers hijack Facebook accounts
Have you been affected by this scam? Get in touch: money@telegraph.co.uk
Taylor Swift fans have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket by fraudsters hijacking their friends’ social media accounts to flog non-existent tickets.
Scores of Facebook users have reported that their accounts have been compromised and scammers are using them to lure in fans with the promise of cheap tickets.
High street bank TSB said it has been forced to issue hundreds of refunds to fraud victims as scammers prey on the desperation of Ms Swift’s fans and their parents.
The bank said it has seen “a number of cases where fraudsters have hacked into social media accounts to sell Taylor Swift tickets that simply do not exist”.
TSB said that in one case it had refunded £600 to a customer after they interacted with a friend’s account on Facebook that was selling Taylor Swift tickets.
“Once contact ceased, the customer contacted her friend by different means and was told that the account had been hacked by a scammer,” a spokesman said.
In other instances seen by this newspaper, scammers hack into a Facebook account, then use it to claim they have tickets for “excellent seats with a great view of the stage”.
The post then encourages the account holder’s friends to get in touch, adding: “I’m willing to sell them at a discount price.”
When contacted, scammers, posing as a friend, convince victims to transfer hundreds of pounds to an unknown account.
Ms Swift’s wildly popular Eras Tour kicked off its UK leg in Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium last week and is tipped to boost Britain’s economy by £1bn this summer.
Nicola Bannister, TSB’s customer support director, said: “If you see a friend or someone you’re following advertising tickets from their profile, it’s best to confirm in person, or via a phone call before making a purchase.”
In April, Lloyds bank warned that Taylor Swift fans had lost out on £1m to fake ticket scams. It said more than 600 of its customers had come forward so far to report being scammed.
Britain’s economy is tipped for a welcome boost this summer, with Taylor Swift fans spending an average of £206 each on outfits, eating out and accommodation, according to a report published by Barclays.
The Eras tour kicked off on 7 June in Edinburgh and will come to a close on 20 August in London.
A Meta spokesman said: “Fraudulent activity is not allowed on our platforms and we are continually investing in new technologies to tackle this industry-wide issue.
“We take the safety and security of our community seriously and encourage everyone to create a strong password, enable two-factor authentication and be suspicious of emails or messages asking for personal details.
“We also have a feature called Security Checkup to help people keep their Instagram and Facebook accounts secure”.
Representatives for Taylor Swift did not respond to requests for comment.
