Ticket Scammers Target Oklahomans

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma woman came close to losing hundreds of dollars trying to score tickets to Taylor Swift's sold out Oklahoma City concert. The Better Business Bureau is warning it's part of a worldwide scam.

Taylor Swift is selling out concerts across the country - 37 of her 46 concerts next year are already sold out. But, it hasn't stopped fans like Jenni Walters from looking for tickets.

Walters, a student at Southern Nazarene University, started looking for ticked on the Internet.

The tickets she came across were going for hundreds or thousands of dollars. 

"I was like 'I don't have $800,'" she said. "I have $60 for a ticket."

Walters finally found an offer from a man overseas. He wrote, if Jenni sent cash or something of value in the mail, he would send her the tickets. She came close to sealing the deal, but backed off after the man failed to provide proof of the tickets.

The Better Business Bureau's Bob Manista said Walters made the right choice.

"Once they've got your money, they're gone," Manista said.

Manista said fans would be better off to avoid to go to a local broker.

"They may not be the bargain eBay or Craigslist is going to be, but you're going to leave with the tickets in your hands," he said.

Some artists are trying to prevent these types of scams.  When Miley Cyrus was in Tulsa last month, paperless tickets were issued.  Paperless tickets cut down on groups that buy tickets in bulk and then sell them on the Internet or on the streets for a higher profit.