Taylor Swift Eras tour ticket scams could have conned UK fans out of more than £1m, bank warns
Taylor Swift fans in the UK could have already lost more than £1m to con artists pretending to sell concert tickets for her Eras tour, a major bank has estimated.
Lloyds Bank has issued a warning to fans based on an analysis of purchase scams reported by its customers, as well as those of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, where Swift and/or the Eras Tour were referenced as part of the claim.
More than 600 Lloyds Banking Group customers have reported being scammed since tickets went on sale in July 2023.
Each victim lost £332 on average, though in some cases the loss was more than £1,000, Lloyds said.
With the figures based solely on its own customer data, Lloyds estimates there are likely to have been at least 3,000 victims across the UK – with more than £1m lost to fraudsters – based on its current account market share and assuming similar trends across other UK banks.
Fans aged 25 to 34 trying to buy sold-out tickets are most likely to be targeted, with many scams originating on social media, Lloyds warned.
Beyonce fans in the UK have also fallen victim to scams. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
Fans of Coldplay, Beyonce and Harry Styles were also targeted by scams last summer, it added.
Purchase scams involve tricking someone into sending money via bank transfer to buy goods or services that are fake, shoddy, or do not exist.
Ticket scams often involve fake adverts, posts or listings on social media, offering tickets or access to events which have already sold out as fraudsters know they can cash in on eager fans willing to pay much more by falsely claiming to have tickets for sale.
Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour is set to gross more than $1bn (£813m), according to reports, with tickets for shows selling out as soon as they went on sale.
By the time it ends in December, the star will have played more than 150 shows across five continents.
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‘If it looks too good to be true, it probably is’
Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?, said people buying gig tickets should use a credit card for anything costing more than £100, or PayPal, as both these methods can provide protection.
“We’ve heard from disappointed Swifties who have bought tickets on social media, only to realise it’s a scam when their promised tickets never materialise,” she said. “Unfortunately, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
“Don’t be tempted to buy tickets from anyone other than authorised sellers, as your rights can be significantly reduced if something goes wrong.”
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Anyone who thinks they have fallen victim to a ticket scam should contact their bank and report it to Action Fraud or Police Scotland, she added.
Liz Ziegler, Lloyds Bank fraud prevention director, said: “It’s easy to let our emotions get the better of us when we find out our favourite artist is going to be performing live, but it’s important not to let those feelings cloud our judgement when trying to get hold of tickets.”
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
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The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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