fans keen to secure for her have been urged to be alert to fraudsters taking advantage of ‘phenomenal demand’ for the shows.
Fans who registered last week learned on July 5 whether they had been randomly selected to receive a highly sought-after pre-sale code – giving them for the superstar’s UK dates in June, July and August of next year.
However, an email on Wednesday informed them that more shows had been added to the tour due to ‘phenomenal demand’ and that they would learn by midnight on July 14 if they had been selected to access the ticket sale or be placed on a waiting list.
As fan reached fever pitch ahead of the pre-sale, experts warned consumers that any offers of tickets outside of official routes sent by sellers Ticketmaster and AXS to those who have pre-registered should be avoided.
According to Action Fraud, UK consumers lost more than £6.7million to ticket fraud in 2022.
Pauline Smith, head of Action Fraud, said: ‘We urge people to be wary of ticket sales from unknown websites or people they do not know.
‘Criminals may offer deals on sold-out or exclusive events, however once you have parted with your money, the tickets are either fraudulent or never appear at all.
‘Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’
Mary Kernohan – from brand protection firm SnapDragon Monitoring – said: ‘Given Taylor Swift’s popularity and the fact that this is her first tour in the UK for a long time, it’s not surprising her tickets are in high demand. But this also makes them a highly attractive target for criminals.
‘Criminals could bank on the popularity of the tickets and establish their own fake versions and fake ticket sale sites in order to dupe consumers and make money.
‘This could range from spoofing legitimate domains and building their own lookalike versions, to building online discount ticket outlets, where people believe they are purchasing something genuine, but when they insert their bank details they are stolen and defrauded for money.
‘To prevent this, it is advised that consumers only purchase tickets from authorised sellers and ignore suspicious emails with discounts on tickets.’
