Swifties: How to avoid scam Ticketmaster notification texts when buying Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets

Taylor Swift’s fandom was sent into a state of chaos earlier this month when the 11-time Grammy Award-winning artist announced she was finally hitting the road again with her sixth tour, officially titled The Eras Tour. 

The tour will mark Swift’s first since her Reputation Tour in 2018 and her first since releasing her seventh studio album Lover in 2019. The tour is advertised as a journey through her various musical eras, dating all the way back to her debut self-titled album in 2006. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift never got to go on tour for Lover and has re-recorded Fearless and Red since then, as well as released sister-albums Folklore and Evermore in the middle of the pandemic, and just released her most recent album Midnights, which broke almost every record in the book. The Eras Tour will contain songs from all these albums, and likely more. 

Since her announcement for The Eras Tour, Swifties have been fighting tooth and nail to sign up for Ticketmaster’s presale tickets, even going so far as to call the Department of Justice on the distribution company after early complications threw a wrench in their plans. 

Things have mostly smoothed out, and emails and texts for presale tickets have officially gone out. While a vast majority of people have received their messages, some are still waiting in vain. To those who can hardly contain their excitement, this message is for you: 

Scammers are very real, and they are using your excitement for The Eras Tour against you. Now more than ever you’ll want to be on guard for any suspicious activities, namely false texts from wannabe Ticketmaster numbers containing malicious links. Do not fall for it. Here are the biggest red flags to look out for. 

Watch out for these red flags

When you finally get your text from Ticketmaster it will contain a unique code and a link to buy your tickets. Ticketmaster has heavily emphasized the importance of holding on to your unique code. Do not delete your text message. Without the code, you will not be able to complete your purchase. Of course, this means that if you see what you believe to be a spam message and delete it, but instead it was actually the real text, then you just threw away your one chance to see Taylor Swift on tour. 

Totally kidding. Obviously, Ticketmaster’s customer service is there to help you if need be, but it’ll be tedious and a hassle. It’s best to circumnavigate all that drama by just not deleting the text. You can do this by looking at the phone number that sent you the text message. The easiest way to spot a spam text is if the number contains all ten digits like a regular phone number. If that’s the case, it’s not Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster will text you with a six-digit number.

It goes without saying that if you did not sign up for presale tickets but received a text message supposedly from Ticketmaster then it is spam. Don’t let your excitement get the best of you. You weren’t magically granted presale tickets – it’s a scam. 

Of course, if you do want presale tickets, and are worried it’s too late, think again. You might be in luck if you’re a Capital One member. 

Ticketmaster has confirmed that every presale link/code gives buyers access to up to six tickets. That means now’s your chance to ditch the boyfriend or girlfriend and call up the besties to join you for what will become Taylor Swift’s biggest tour to date and undoubtedly a lifelong memory. For information about The Eras Tour’s pricing, dates, and other details, you can read more here.