Taylor Swift Facebook scams rising ahead of Minneapolis concerts

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Ahead of sold out shows both Friday and Saturday night Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison has warned about ticket scams for potential purchasers.

FOX 9's Rob Olson spoke with someone affected by these scams, without even knowing it.

When Brian Kiester searches for himself on Facebook, he found he was no longer there. The sense of dread has been enormous since he found out his profile was used in a scam.

"It’s my face, it’s my picture, my name… my information… everything – used by somebody else to take advantage of innocent, hardworking people," Kiester told FOX 9.

While scams involving Swift concert tickets have been reported nationally, some have become unwittingly involved through both emails and Facebook platforms. Five weeks ago, he got messages from Facebook saying a new email had been added to his account, originating from Bulgaria.

He clicked "this wasn’t me," but then got no response.

FOX 9s Rob Olson spoke with someone affected by these scams, without even knowing it. (Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Locked out from his profile, he sent multiple messages to Facebook through their help center, but to this day has still not received any sort of response.

Then a week ago, friends sent him a screenshot of a post from his account, selling four tickets to Taylor Swift at the Armory in Minneapolis. Following that, his sister called to say a scammed buyer messaged her trying to track him down after sending the person $1,500.

"They’re getting control of these accounts, so they can fool you into thinking it’s a real person when in reality it’s not, it’s a scam," Kiester said.

Feeling victimized as well, he now warns people to watch their own Facebook accounts too. Prior to the concert, Ellison has provided a list of safety precautions to take prior to purchasing tickets.