I wanted my son’s first gig to be memorable but ended up losing $650 – the money vanished after a polite request

Chaos ensued when the seller stopped responding to messages

A MOM who tried to nab tickets for her son’s dream first gig ended in tears after swindlers intervened.

Jayme Johnson, from Arizona, searched high and low to scoop a spot at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour without success in April last year.

4

A mum was left devastated after she was duped by scammers (stock image)Credit: Getty

4

The seller swindled mom Jayme Johnson for $650 for Taylor Swift ticketsCredit: Jayme Johnson

4

When the hacked Facebook user didn’t send the tickets, Jayme panicked and demanded a refundCredit: Jayme Johnson
But after a tip from a pal about a Facebook post, Jayme believed she wasn’t far away from bagging the tickets for the popstar’s Glendale concert.

“We are aware that these scams happen, so we’re looking at her profile pic with a baby,” Jayme told Fox 8.

“She seems so sweet. She has 450 friends. She was local.”

The Facebook page looked legit, and Jayme got in touch about snagging the two advertised tickets to see the pop juggernaut for $650.

“Wow, I’m going to get this experience with my son, his first concert,” she continued.

“This will be great.”

The seller asked Jayme to pay through cash transfer apps Venmo or Zelle.

She said: “I went ahead and I sent the money through and I knew with Zelle that it’s immediate.”

Curiously, the tickets never arrived, and Jayme repeatedly messaged the seller asking where they were.

‘I’m making the payment’, says teen who lost $10k in a week over Zelle after being told his family would be ‘chopped up’
When she didn’t receive any response, she demanded a refund.

“As soon as I said that they blocked me on Messenger, and they did the same to my friend, and we had no way of communicating,” she said.

The penny dropped, and Jayme knew that she’d been swindled by a hacked account.

“She had her account hacked,” Jayme revealed.

“Her mom had been posting on Facebook saying, ‘Hey guys, if you get a weird message or see posts from my daughter about Taylor Swift tickets, it’s a scam.

She seems so sweet. She has 450 friends. She was local

 

 

Jayme Johnson

“You always hear of these things and think I’m smarter than that and think that’ll never happen to me and well, it did.”

Zelle is a peer-to-peer payment app that allows people to send money to each other instantly.

It can be used through its own app or it is also connected to tons of major banks through their apps.

The two tricks were brought to light by Keep Security on “Is it safe to accept Zelle payments from strangers?” – and they have concluded that no it is not.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

One of our writers at The U.S. Sun has also fallen prey to online ticket scammers.

Cheyenne R. Ubiera previously reported that she was scammed out of $200 when she attempted to sell on tickets for a concert she could no longer attend.

After agreeing to sell the tickets to someone on X, formerly Twitter, she noticed several red flags.

Ubiera had an agreement with the buyer that they would wire $300 for the tickets.

However, the buyer proposed sending $500 to Ubiera and for her to send back $200.

Ubiera said something seemed very off about the interaction and she feared she was being scammed.

“I don’t feel comfortable going through with this transaction. I don’t think it should have taken this long to make what seems to be a clear-cut transaction,” Ubiera told the buyer.

While she couldn’t confirm if it was a scam, Ubiera took no chances and immediately unfollowed the user.

Top tips on avoiding scams:

As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam and how to avoid them.

Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.

Source: Chase.com

4

The mom was looking forward to taking her son to see Taylor Swift in concert