Ed Sheeran fans are being ripped off by online scammers claiming they have tickets to his sell-out world tour for sale.
Scores of fraudsters have joined Facebook groups to trick fans into paying hundreds of pounds for fake tickets.
Ed, who famously sports Hoax-branded T-shirts, is continuing his Mathematics world tour in 2024.
But many of his shows have now sold out leaving fans desperate to get their hands on much sought-after tickets.
The high demand for tickets, which usually sell out within an hour, has seen a rise in internet fraud.
But when genuine fans pay up, the fraudsters either demand more money or shut down their profiles and vanish into thin air.
Mum-of-two Louise Blake, 42, was duped into paying £60 upfront for a ticket to Sheeran’s sell-out show at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium in Tenerife in June.
The faker, calling herself Lilly Smith, replied to her plea on the Ed Sheeran Tickets – Buying And Selling page on Facebook.
Louise, who lives near Manchester, said: “She seemed completely genuine and nice. I thought she couldn’t be a scammer.
“But she was. I was shocked.”
‘Lilly’ sent her a video showing a ticket with the Ticketmaster logo on her iPhone, which had been edited to look real.
“And said she would transfer it to her Ticketmaster account after the money was paid.”
After sending the cash to a bank called Prepay Technologies in the name of the scammer’s partner Mark Zhyliakov, she demanded more cash to change the name on the ticket.
Louise, who has seen Ed perform in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and London, smelled a rat as Ticketmaster does not charge people to change names on tickets or transfer tickets.
After she was rumbled the scammer quickly shut down her Facebook account.
Louise contacted her bank who are now probing the fraud in a bid to recoup the stolen cash.
She also contacted the administrators for the page.
Several other fake accounts bombarded Louise with promises of tickets all with the same response.
It read: “Hi! I’m happy to transfer my four tickets to anyone who’s interested.
“I can also sell separately if you need one, two or three.
“Not looking to make any extra profit off the tickets, I just want them passed on to another true fan. Don’t want them wasted.”
Another member of the Facebook group, which has 14,200 members, wanted payment in cryptocurrency Binance.
Louise, who works in airline customer services, wants to warn fans who are feeling the pinch during the cost of living crisis.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it was a scam. She seemed very genuine.
“She was chatting to me on messenger. When she said it would cost an extra £30 to change the ticket to my name I knew it was suspicious.
“I told her no way was I sending any more money.
“I have changed names on tickets before and it doesn’t cost anything.
“When I confronted this person called Lilly she shut down her profile. These scammers are just scumbags ripping off genuine fans.
“I would warn any real fans out there to be extra vigilant when trying to buy things on Facebook.
“If it appears too good to be true, then it’s probably a scam.
“It’s so unfair to prey on people, especially with the cost of living crisis.”
