In late 2022, Taylor Swift broke the internet with the announcement of the Eras Tour, a short nationwide excursion celebrating her nine-album career. The “Swifties,” as Swift fans call themselves, were buzzing — that is, until Ticketmaster, the only platform selling tickets for the tour, couldn’t keep up. Huge demand And it crashed, leading to a federal investigation, a lawsuit backed by the Swifties, and a massive scramble among fans to get tickets any way they could.
Thousands of Swifties were unable to purchase tickets from Ticketmaster, and as a result, began scouring ticket sellers and third-party sellers on social media for a seat on the resale market.
Then something similar happened with Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour, with “sheer chaos” on Ticketmaster and fans going to every corner of the internet looking for resale tickets.
The main issue? Buying concert tickets from people on Twitter and Instagram is incredibly risky. These platforms don’t have the same kind of safety precautions built in as ticket marketplaces like Stubhub and SeatGeek to ensure tickets are legitimate and protect fans from being scammed.
With Twitter in particular becoming a hot spot for reselling tickets and deceptionSwifties are spreading the word about how to buy legitimate tickets on platforms without booking tickets online. (Twitter does bans Promoting unauthorized tickets, although there don’t seem to be any consequences for doing so, or a way to make scam buyers wholly.)
While it’s a gamble to buy resale tickets on social media, it may be cheaper than buying from secondary ticket sites that charge a fee. Multiple accounts have popped up on Twitter with the goal of helping people find legitimate tickets. They and others have shared tips on how to make sure you buy real tickets on social media.
1. Make a purchase using PayPal goods and services.
IIf you find someone on social media who appears to be selling legitimate tickets, you just have to send them money using PayPal’s goods and services feature. This ensures that you are covered by PayPal Purchase protection.
This payment method also keeps your financial information safe, monitors the transaction, and provides dispute resolution and fraud prevention. You will be eligible for a full refund if you do not receive your tickets or if they are illegitimate.
One popular Twitter account run by Swifties, @tweet, connects people who sell Eras Tour tickets to fans who want to buy them. The three Swift fans behind the account also offer helpful advice on how to make sure your purchase is genuine.
“As soon as a scammer sees ‘paypal goods and services’ they run it,” they wrote on Twitter.
2. Ask the seller to forward your original purchase confirmation.
If the person you’re talking to has already purchased a real ticket from Ticketmaster, they’ve received a confirmation email. This email does not include actual tickets, but does mention preliminary ordering information. according to Ticket Masterthis confirmation email “is sent to the email you provided during booking, up to 72 hours after purchasing your tickets.”
The confirmation email from Ticketmaster will look like this:
Someone who legitimately purchased tickets on Ticketmaster or a valid third party reseller site such as SeatGeek or Stubhub will be able to forward this email to you.
However, it is also important to note that photos can be easily processed, so make sure they send you the confirmation email. The original sender of the confirmation email must also have a real email address, eg customer_support@email.ticketmaster.com or Transactions@seatgeek.com. If the email address looks funky, you can search Google to see if there is anything related to the real website. Otherwise, it may be fake.
3. Do some digging on their social media profile.
If you end up chatting with someone selling a ticket on Twitter, you should hack their account. It’s possible that the actual Swiftie tweeted about the Eras Tour or Swift herself, for example. If they only recently started posting stuff about the artist you’re trying to see, It may be a scamsaid one apparently veteran of the Twitter ticket wars.
In addition, some accounts have been charged With profile pictures that are random fan pics with Swift, suggesting that they may be scammers posing as real fans who need to sell their tickets. a reverse google image search They can help confirm that the person in the photo is the account holder, or you can search other media they have posted for confirmation.
It’s also important to make sure they haven’t changed their username recently. Some accounts will get caught trying to sell fake tickets and then change their handle so you can’t search them to see what others have to say about their activities.
Other dubious things to look out for include major grammatical or spelling errors, inconsistencies in flight times or cities they show, or downward conversations. If they really want to sell tickets to another fan, they will probably be more than happy to show you any proof you ask for them to get you comfortable.
4. Find the person’s Twitter account name.
Besides searching their social media history, you can also search their Twitter account name to see if people are talking about them or complaining about them. You can use Twitter’s search feature and search for “@username + dm” or “@username + tickets.” Other people may have posted screenshots of deceptive direct messages, or other fans may be warning others not to buy from them.
As mentioned earlier, it is possible for someone to change their username after being arrested or accused of selling fake tickets, so be careful about that. Just because you don’t find any complaints doesn’t mean it’s legitimate.
5. If they’re looking for you, they probably aren’t legit.
If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. This means that if someone sends a random message asking if you want to buy tickets, it is likely to be a scam.
A person selling legitimate tickets may post a Tweet listing the date and location of the concert. Most likely, though, they might connect with a larger resell center page, such as one BTSor this is for Harry Stilesor ErasTourResell for Swift. Run almost exclusively by fans, these accounts will contain buying and selling information via their hubs and listings.
For example, this Twitter account For Styles’ Love on Tour, it directs sellers to provide a screenshot of their ticket with their username watermarked, proof of payment, a screen recording from Ticketmaster, and a message saying they will be using PayPal Goods & Services. While this does not guarantee 100% that the tickets are legit, it does help off all of these factors.
6. Ask for a screencast, but still be careful.
Requiring a ticketmaster app screen capture of a vendor is a good step towards ensuring tickets are real. Once someone purchases a ticket via Ticketmaster, they will be able to access the history of that sale at any time on the app. The account contains unique details that are exclusive to the buyer that they can share with you as a step in the verification process.
Screencasts are also easy to manipulate, and @ErasTourResell noted that it’s helpful to be aware of what a Ticketmaster app screencast will look like and rigged screenshots. If the person sends you a video of their Ticketmaster app, make sure there are no glitches throughout the app. All information must be correct (such as the concert date, seats, row, time, and venue) and the video must be completely smooth and clear, from the buyer’s home screen to the ticket.
7. Don’t send any money until you’ve verified it’s real tickets.
It can be tempting to immediately jump at the chance to buy tickets from someone you think is legitimate, but don’t let them push you into sending payments too soon. You have to make sure it’s 100% real before you send anything, even if they ask for some kind of down payment (a seller asking for a down payment is usually a sign of a scam, anyway).
Many fans selling real concert tickets online want to go to another fan who is excited about the show. they Absolutely They won’t ask you to send half of the money on Venmo first, nor will they complain if you ask for different ways to prove the tickets are real. Listen to your instincts, be safe, and don’t be too eager to send money as pre-verified as possible.
8. If you’re able, choose a secondary ticketing site instead.
Third-party ticket sellers such as SeatGeek and StubHub are generally safer options. StubHub, for example, says that buyers and sellers can use the site with 100% confidence across their sites FanProtect Guaranteewhich promises valid tickets or your money back.
SeatGeek makes a similar promise. The service, which positions itself as a “trusted consumer marketplace,” claims that all buyers will receive valid tickets in time for their concert date. If for whatever reason they don’t, SeatGeek has a Buyer guarantee It works on a case-by-case basis and offers identical or better tickets, and a full refund or credit.
