An apparent scam allegedly targeting roughly four hundred people, many of whom based out of Burlington, Ont., claim to be out approximately $300,000 in total after believing they were purchasing Taylor Swift tickets in Toronto, but never receiving them.
When Annette Newton heard about a friend who said she knew a reseller with corporate tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, she had her doubts.
"I contacted that person directly and she offered me some tickets," said Newton in an interview with CTV News on Saturday. "I asked her a little bit about her and if she could provide me some proof of some tickets she sold me in the past and she did."
Newton said the friend-of-a-friend, who went by the name Denise Blackhawk on Facebook, had several other people vouch for her credibility.
Part of the reason she felt she could trust her was that multiple people within their Burlington community told her they had bought tickets from her in the past, even showing pictures that they had attended those other events.
"I followed through and asked a lot of questions," added Newton. "I spoke with her on the phone, I emailed her, I looked at her Facebook, people were saying 'thank you for the tickets.' I contacted a few people who said: 'Yup, I got a few tickets from her.'"
Newton says the woman who went by "Denise" said she had access to a third-party seller who gave her access to corporate sections of major events in Toronto, including concerts and sporting events.
Newton ended up buying four tickets for roughly $2,500 to gift to her daughters for Christmas last year, and said she was told by Denise over several calls and text messages that she would have access to the tickets in the days leading up to Swift's second Toronto show on Nov. 15.
"Which is also the way Ticketmaster is releasing the tickets," said Newton's daughter Emily, who was supposed to attend the concert with her mom. "They're not sending them out until a few days before, so you can't download them and start selling them people, so it was in the same flow that everyone was getting them."
But when that day came, she says Denise told her the third-party individual never sent her the tickets.
"I heard back fairly quickly from her saying 'I have a problem, I don't have the tickets... they're gone, my corporate guy did not come through, I'm sorry — there's nothing I can do,'" alleges Newton.
"The money didn't come to mind, it was that I had to tell my four daughters who are all getting ready and excited to go to this event that I just got scammed" said Newton through tears. "I was embarrassed, I was beside myself."
"I was upset about the impact it had on [my mom]," said Emily. "To take that away from people, that's not who we are as humans and that it's sad to know that there are people who have those incentives to do that to other people."
Hundreds of apparent victims allegedly lost $300K
After the incident, Newton said she reached out to several of the other moms who had also never received their tickets.
"My heart is really broken, not for the money, but for the kids," said Jenny Beck, a mom from Oakville, Ont., said she had bought tickets for her 16 year old daughter, Madalina.
"I just can't believe someone would do this,' she told CTV News on Saturday via Zoom.
After learning that the number of alleged victims from this one incident kept growing, several of them decided to create a shared online document to gather a list of names and the amount each alleged victim had spent on tickets.
"There's a Google doc that is circulating that we are all filling out and we all have access to it," said Beck. "As of late [Friday] night, it's over $300,000."
"There are over 200 individuals who have purchased tickets and we figure she promised 450 tickets to everybody in total," said Alaina Attard in a Sunday Zoom interview with CTV News. Attard also verified that the figure spent collectively so far is over $300,000.
"The scope of it is absolutely massive," said Attard, who claims she paid Denise for Taylor Swift tickets that she never received. "This is across multiple provinces, there are people in the States; it's not just Burlington. It started off sounding it was, but then you hear 'I'm from Kitchener, I'm from Toronto, I'm from Alberta,'" said Attard.
Attard and other moms who spoke to CTV News said 'Denise' is a known mother in their neighbourhood, who many people had met in person and had said was credible. They say they were told by 'Denise' that it was the supplier of the corporate tickets who had taken their money and disappeared on her, with 'Denise' claiming she was also one of the victims of the scam.
Alleged scammer's response; police investigating
CTV News called the phone number several of the alleged victims had claimed belonged to "Denise;' the person who had taken their money for the promise of Taylor Swift tickets in return.
"I've already made a report to the police two days ago at 9 a.m. in the morning, so we'll just wait for them to contact me," said someone identifying themselves as 'Denise' over the phone to CTV News Saturday.
The woman hung up before CTV News could ask her any further questions and did not pick up any calls afterwards.
Halton Regional Police say they're investigating multiple reports of people who paid for Taylor Swift concert tickets and never received them.
"We have spoken to our Financial Crimes Unit and can confirm we have received multiple reports and complaints regarding Taylor Swift tickets," said HRP spokesperson, Jeff Dillon.
"Not much more info I can give you right now as complaints just started to come in [Friday], but we would remind residents to be vigilant when purchasing tickets."
Police are asking the public to only purchase tickets from legitimate resale websites.
