A Canadian family has been left distraught after buying fake Taylor Swift tickets which cost them $15,600 USD.
Ottawa mom Mel Keogh purchased 28 tickets for a group of Swiftie family members who had been excited to experience the Toronto Eras Tour show on November 23.
She used an independent ticket broker, which she did not name but said she had used before, that turned out to be a scam.
‘To break it to the girls that we weren’t going – was horrendous,’ Keogh told CTV News Ottawa while fighting back tears.
Keogh said her family, including her super-fan daughter Jordan, 15, were devastated by the news after spending weeks making bracelets and choosing outfits.
‘(It’s) all we’ve been talking about for over a year,’ Mel told CTV News.
‘They were absolutely ecstatic. My daughter, I can speak to her specifically, knows every Taylor Swift song, every word, every album, every era, everything.’
Keogh said she booked the tickets in August thinking they were the real deal.
Her group of 28 teamed up with four neighbors, spending $788 CAD on each ticket, or $561.89 in USD.
Keogh’s family made a total loss of $22,000 CAD ($15, 687 USD), while her neighbors lost around $3,000 CAD ($2,139 USD).
They planned out a magical evening for Swift’s last Toronto show, including booking limousines and hotels for the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Mel’s sister-in-law Patricia Keogh said she had used the independent ticket broker before for several concerts and sporting events.
She said everything seemed legitimate during the buying process – as they received confirmation codes and seat numbers by email and she felt they had done their research.
‘It’s gone, it’s all gone,’ Patricia Keogh told CTV News.
‘(It is) really upsetting that we let our family down,’ she added. ‘How could we have not seen this? How did we get duped? We’re smart people.’
The Eras Tour has sold out through the original vendor, Ticketmaster, and resale tickets cost a whopping $3,000 to $5,000 CAD.
Mel Keogh said her family can’t afford the resale but she hopes there’s ‘still a way to get them to the concert’.
‘I still hope,’ she said.
The family has filed a police report and contacted lawyers in the hopes of recouping the costs.
The highest-grossing tour of all time, the Eras Tour began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, and after 149 shows, it will close on December 8 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
