A Canadian woman has been arrested after scamming dozens of Taylor Swift fans out of nearly $70,000.
According to Toronto police, the woman had used the alias “Denise Blackhawk” on Facebook Marketplace to sell tickets. Her victims agreed to an e-transfer and settled on an amount for tickets, however, the Swifties never received the tickets they paid for.
“When victims requested their money back, the accused alleged that the money was gone,” police said.
Police said that in total, 28 victims sent the accused money, however, they are working with Halton police on the case and believe there are more victims.
The accused, from Burlington, Ontario, has been charged with 32 counts of fraud under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. Additionally, she will face one count each of fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by a crime over $5,000.
The accused woman is due in court on January 10, 2025.
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One victim, Melinda Tarantino, told CBC News that she lost over $3,000 to the accused after buying concerts tickets for herself and her two daughters. After the scam, she began to collect victims’ experiences in an online form and discovered that nearly 160 people bought about 420 tickets from the accused. She has handed the list to the Halton police.
Anyone in the Toronto area who may have purchased a fraudulent ticket is urged to contact police.
Toronto Swifties aren’t alone; earlier this year, Swifties in the Greater Victoria were left empty-handed after falling victim to a scam on Facebook. According to the Oak Bay Police Department, one of the victims said they saw a post by a friend on Facebook who was selling tickets for $2,400. After e-transferring the cash, the fan received fake tickets in return. The friend’s social media account was compromised and had sent messages to all their Facebook friends selling the fraudulent tickets. The account has since been reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC).
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The same compromised Facebook account successfully sold fake tickets to another fan; the second victim saw their Facebook friend selling tickets to Swift’s show for $500 each and bought four. After e-transferring $2,000, the seller asked the victim for another $400, claiming there was a surcharge to transfer the tickets. The victim suspected the scam and called their friend who confirmed.
Police noted that this “Swifty Swindle” wasn’t the first scam surrounding Swift tickets; there have been several other fraud reports in different jurisdictions as Swift played the area on her Eras Tour.
