Alice Beer, Consumer expert reveals the biggest concert scams and how to avoid them as Taylor Swift is set to come to the UK next month for her highly sought-after Eras tour

Alice Beer spoke on This Morning about the most common summer scams. Global superstar Taylor Swift is coming to several arenas across the UK in June for her highly sought-after Eras tour. She sold more than 4.3million tickets and Swifties rushed to websites to try and get their hands on some after they sold out fast.

But those looking to bag themselves the chance to see the singer should not turn to websites like Facebook, warns Alice. Speaking to Dermot and Jodie, she said: ‘When there is a massive sell-out event, there are always people who are desperate to get tickets who didn’t get them on the first release. ‘Like Taylor Swift fans, queuing and queuing online, you don’t get them and you’re disappointed. So when they pop up available somewhere else, you go for it and that’s when you start making mistakes.’

Alice said that tickets are not the only thing at risk, car parking and hotels are also ones to look out for. She claims there were more than 150,000 cases of purchase scams, where people bought something and they didn’t get what they wanted. According to Alice, Lloyds Bank said 600 of their customers were scammed when trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets to the tune of more than one million pounds. People were sold tickets that didn’t exist, tickets that had been sold multiple times, or they had bought a seat and turned up to find it was not the one they purchased.

She said the first thing to look out for is where you are buying from, adding that sites such as Facebook do not allow ticket sales. Alice said you need to go through Ticketmaster, a box office or a trusted promoter to get tickets and make sure all transactions are made through the website. The way you purchase your tickets could also cover you. If you buy them via bank transfer, you are less protected than if you were to use your credit card, debit card or PayPal.

She advised fans to slow down and take a second to think about where and who they are buying from. Whenever you buy a ticket from someone, make sure you do your homework and look into who that person is and what credentials they have, Alice added. Recently, Nicki Minaj fans who travelled to the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester were left heartbroken after they were told that the singer would not be performing following her arrest in Amsterdam.

Ticketholders were allowed into the venue despite the 41-year-old star being detained at Schiphol Airport on suspicion of possessing soft drugs. She was fined and released from custody a few hours later. Lovers of the rapper were told the concert had been cancelled but that the date will be rescheduled. Alice said that if they can’t attend the new date, they will get a refund on the ticket cost, but not the booking fee. If they booked hotels, train tickets and car parking, they will likely lose that money as they are not eligible to be refunded.

But Alice says if you book a concert in another city, it is worth buying it as part of a package because if it is cancelled, you can claim back the entire trip. Websites such as Ticketmaster do sell insurance, but Alice says you are only covered if someone close to you passes away or you are ill and cannot attend. Alice then warned against parking scams and said there are fake apps that claim help you pay for your space. People input their bank details into these apps but they are not legitimate, meaning you will be slapped with a fine as well as losing your money.

One way to avoid this is to download directly from the app store and check how many downloads it has, if it has many downloads, it is likely to be real. Another way scammers could swindle you is through fake QR codes that are stuck over the original ones. ‘Just be careful. Look at it, is there a sticker there? Is there another way to pay that is legitimate? You don’t need to download a QR viewing app, your iPhone will do it automatically and take you to the site,’ she said.

Alice then said that experts have warned that parking near a venue increases your risk of car theft or having items from your vehicle stolen. In terms of accommodation scams, she said to stay on legitimate sites such as Booking.com and Airbnb and do not make any payments off the website.