Scam involving stolen Taylor Swift tickets turns woman into victim and threatens her dream vacation

FOX 2 – Karen Perry spent more than $4,000 on Taylor Swift tickets for a dream weekend trip with her niece.

To say she's frustrated would be an understatement.

“I don’t sleep because of it. It’s terrible,” she said. “They took thousands of dollars of my money.”

The Royal Oak native, who now lives in Washington state, and her niece from Royal Oak were planning to travel to the concert in New Orleans this weekend.

According to StubHub, Perry was stunned to learn that she had unexpectedly purchased stolen tickets on the third-party website StubHub.

“I've just heard nightmare stories about this happening to so many people, that it doesn't happen in time for the concert – or they get their money back after the concert,” she said. “I can’t afford a refund after the concert. I have to buy new tickets now.”

FOX 2: “What emotions are you experiencing right now?”

“Sad, like I’m crying,” she said. “I can't sleep. I know it sounds crazy because it's Taylor Swift, but we've been planning this for months and months.”

On Oct. 8, Perry said Ticketmaster sent her a message saying her concert tickets had been canceled due to a “terms of service” violation.

She has been calling StubHub every day since then but has not received a solution.

“Then on October 17, Ticketmaster emailed me again with another email saying, 'The tickets transferred to you were purchased by someone who attempted to steal tickets,'” Perry said.

FOX 2: “They're flying from the West Coast to New Orleans. They had to pay for the flight. They had to pay for hotel reservations.”

“We did it all,” Perry said. “We have costumes, we have outfits. We spent so much money on this dream trip.”

Luckily for Perry, that dream comes true. After FOX 2 spoke with her, we contacted StubHub and now Perry says they've found a solution for some comparable tickets – even better tickets than she actually paid for.

The Better Business Bureau offers advice on how to avoid ticket fraud:

Pay with a credit card to dispute charges

Use secure websites that start with https

Avoid Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and other free listings

You can also check out third party websites like StubHub at the Better Business Bureau website.