I paid a stranger on Facebook $1,545 for tickets to Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour.' Here's how I avoided getting scammed.

• Joni Sweet never got access to Ticketmaster's presale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
• She bought tickets from Facebook because sites like StubHub were selling tickets for thousands — way outside of Sweet's budget.
• Sweet insisted on using Paypal Goods and Services to protect herself during the risky transaction.

In January, I did something I never thought I would do: I paid a stranger I met on Facebook $1,545.10 for tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

It was a risky move. I had heard reports of other people getting scammed out of more than a thousand dollars after they tried to buy tickets from resellers, so I was nervous.

But like many Swifties, I never got access to Ticketmaster's disastrous presale for the Eras Tour. And the mark-up on tickets from official resale sites like Stubhub gave me serious sticker shock, so I turned to social media to find a seller.

Luckily for me, it worked out—but making sure the seller and the tickets were legitimate required hours of detective work.

I posted on a Taylor Swift ticket-selling Facebook group

My search for Taylor Swift tickets started on Twitter. I had come across @ErasTourResell, an account which connects hopeful concertgoers with people selling their Eras Tour tickets for face value.

The competition for those tickets is fierce. After I didn't hear back from several sellers I had contacted, I turned to Facebook. I searched for terms like "Taylor Swift resell" and "Eras Tour tickets" and joined a few groups that came up. 

Then, I posted that I was in search of tickets for Taylor Swift shows in PA, NJ, and MA (all driving distance from my home in NY), as well as a few venues I was willing to travel to,  and hoped for the best.

A potential seller messaged me, so I went through his social media history

Later that day, I received a Facebook message from someone asking if I was still looking for Eras Tour tickets. He told me he was selling a pair of floor tickets for the concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on May 20. 

He sent me a screenshot of his Ticketmaster purchase confirmation and the stadium seating map that included the section, row, and the four seats he had purchased, mentioning that he was only selling two of the tickets.

After finding out he wanted $750 each (more than I've ever spent to go to a concert, but about half as much as similar tickets were going for at the time), I decided to suss him out.

I started by doing a deep dive into his Facebook history. A lot of scammers have relatively new accounts with little to no history of activity, so it was reassuring to see that this seller had public posts dating back to 2013.  

Over the years, he had shared photos of his family, links to petitions for issues he cared about, posts wishing everyone a happy new year, fan art of his favorite celebrities, and several photoshopped images of his face on Taylor Swift album covers. 

Clearly he was a fan, and more importantly, it didn't seem like his account was set up just to sell tickets, which made me feel more comfortable moving forward.

I insisted on using PayPal Goods and Services

If this transaction didn't go as planned, I wanted some protection to get my money back. Hence why it's smart to use PayPal Goods and Services. It promises to help buyers get a refund if the concert tickets they've paid for never show up. PayPal charges 2.99% of the transaction amount for this service (so, in this case, $44.85, although I miscalculated and sent the seller $44.10 in fees, and the seller was fine with that).

I felt the fee was well worth the protection it offered — at the very least, I would have a means to get a refund if he tried to scam me.

I asked for screen recordings of his Ticketmaster account

Another way to determine if a seller is legit is by requesting a screen recording (rather than a screenshot, which is easier to fake) of them going through their Ticketmaster account and showing their tickets. 

Before I even asked, my seller sent me a screen recording he took a few days prior. That was helpful, but I wanted something more current, so I asked him to take new recordings that showed today's date, our Facebook conversation, and the Eras Tour tickets in his Ticketmaster account. A few minutes later, he sent me exactly what I asked for.

I watched it over and over again looking for signs it had been faked. I paid attention to the battery level on the phone, the time displayed, and our recorded conversation to see if it looked like he had messed with it.

I also compared it to other screen recordings buyers had posted in Facebook ticket reselling groups to see if it contained any signs of fraud. It all checked out.

I asked why he was selling the tickets

What finally boosted my confidence to the level where I could feel comfortable paying a stranger more than $1,500 for Taylor Swift tickets was his response when I asked: "Why are you selling?" 

He said he "panic-bought during the sale," and that a Ticketmaster glitch would only let him buy four tickets, rather than just the two he wanted, during the presale. That lined up with the presale problems I heard about. 

He admitted that the pair he wanted to sell was probably worth more than $750, but that "Taylor would not approve" of overcharging.

We then got into a conversation about when we became Swifties and our favorite Taylor Swift albums. It felt like I was talking to a friend.

We agreed to make the transaction later that evening.

I paid for one ticket at a time

After exchanging the email addresses connected with our PayPal and Ticketmaster accounts, it was go time. I sent him $1 as a test, and he confirmed he received it.

We then decided to do the transaction one ticket at a time to help reduce the risk we both were taking. I sent him $772.05 for the ticket and PayPal fee, along with a screenshot for proof. He then sent me a screenshot of my info in his Ticketmaster ticket transfer page to confirm he had the correct details. I approved, then waited to receive the first ticket as my heart raced.

Within one minute, Ticketmaster emailed me to let me know my ticket transfer for the Eras Tour was ready for me. I tapped the "accept tickets" button and the ticket officially hit my account.  Phew!

We repeated the process again for the second ticket without a hitch, and I was glad the stressful experience was over.

I made sure the tickets were transferred to my Ticketmaster account

Both tickets appeared in my Ticketmaster account after I accepted the transfer for each one. I can see that they're authentic because they have a special bar code that changes every few seconds, with a note that screenshots won't get me in.

Even though Ticketmaster doesn't allow you to cancel a transfer after someone has accepted your tickets, I check to see that they're still in my Ticketmaster app every few days… just in case.

Would I buy concert tickets from a stranger online again?

Buying these tickets caused me a lot of anxiety, so I'd prefer to buy them directly from Ticketmaster in the future. Since that wasn't an option for me this time, and the scalpers on reseller sites are charging a ton of money for Eras Tour tickets, I'm glad I bought from a stranger I met on Facebook, instead. 

The original receipt for these tickets showed they cost about $600 each, so I only paid about $150 more than face value.

Since face value tickets sold out so quickly during the presale, I knew I'd probably need to spend more than they initially cost—and I really wanted to go to the Eras Tour. Plus, tickets for seats in a similar section for this show are going for more than $2,500 a pop on Stubhub right now. That's way outside of my budget. The extra $150 felt very reasonable by comparison. 

Even though the transaction required a lot of careful vetting and taking a big risk, it worked out.

Joni Sweet is a Hudson Valley-based writer who covers travel, health, and wellness.