"I almost lost $2k to a co-ordinated Adele ticket scam on Facebook"
- 7 months ago
A law student almost lost $2k after failing victim to a co-ordinated Adele ticket scam on Facebook, she claims.
Hira Mustafa, 27, wanted to surprise her family with a trip to the 'Hello' star's residency in Las Vegas.
She couldn't get tickets on general sale so went looking on social media, and found a seller in a dedicated resale group.
Hira's bizarre ordeal then unfolded in which she claims two people joined forces to scam her.
She transferred $1,800 for three tickets via bitcoin to a mystery 'middleman' and, had it not been for a block on her account, says she would have lost more.
Hira, a content creator from New York, has since been reimbursed by her bank.
And she managed to get tickets to the Caesar's Palace show in the end - saying she and her relatives had a great night.
But Hira now wants to warn other people to be wary of the resale marker.
She said: "I am usually pretty diligent about these types of things online and cautious with money.
"But these accounts looked like real, legit accounts.
"I was in disbelief. I felt unintelligent, gullible for falling for this.
"I know I'm a competent person. I thought competent people don't get scammed.
"I always thought it was easy things to spot.
"I run an online content creation business so if they were able to pull this off with me, how many other times have they managed to pull this off?"
Hira tried to get tickets for Adele's residency on general sale. But after that failed she turned to Facebook.
She said: "There was this massive Adele ticket resale group and I was very cautious of getting scammed as I hadn't done this process before.
"It said you can reach out to an admin to verify tickets and it seemed really nice and they were helping facilitate this process for fans."
Both Hira and the seller transferred the money and the tickets to the admin after making a Facebook group, who would then send them the opposite way.
But after sending the money via bitcoin, the 'middleman' claimed she hadn't received it.
Hira said: "I had never used bitcoin before and the mediating admin was saying how it'd be fine.
"I had a little bit more faith that it would work as I was sure they weren't working together.
"She made it seem like Venmo. I didn't want to be the reason that the whole deal fell through.
"So I sent the amount on bitcoin and she then sends me a screenshot saying it had been rejected and it'll be refunded in three to five days.
"On my side, it said completed payment."
Hira was starting to believe she had been scammed, and decided to check in with her bank and call the police.
She said: "I was getting upset at this point. They wanted me to send more money through a different bitcoin app.
"The seller was saying she was going to sell her tickets to another seller as she needed money for her ill son.
"I called my bank and said I think it might be a fraudulent payment and they told me to cut up my card.
"I confronted them saying I'd been scammed and they flipped it on me, saying I was being sketchy. They made it seem like I hadn't sent the money."
Hira was then contacted by another seller, she claims, who empathised with her problems.
She says the new seller reassured her that the middleman was legit, which convinced her to go back and try re-buy the original tickets through the middleman.
She was about to send more money - when her account reached its daily maximum.
Hira says this was a blessing as she now believes that the second seller was also in on the scam.
She said: "Maybe me learning this lesson now will prevent me from a scam on a much larger scale - that's how I justified it to myself."
Hira was able to secure tickets eventually, and had a great night.
She said: "The show was incredible.
"It was such a sweet moment and I've never seen my brother so excited, it was such a fun experience.
"Getting to appreciate her music live was worth the resale site prices!"
Hira Mustafa, 27, wanted to surprise her family with a trip to the 'Hello' star's residency in Las Vegas.
She couldn't get tickets on general sale so went looking on social media, and found a seller in a dedicated resale group.
Hira's bizarre ordeal then unfolded in which she claims two people joined forces to scam her.
She transferred $1,800 for three tickets via bitcoin to a mystery 'middleman' and, had it not been for a block on her account, says she would have lost more.
Hira, a content creator from New York, has since been reimbursed by her bank.
And she managed to get tickets to the Caesar's Palace show in the end - saying she and her relatives had a great night.
But Hira now wants to warn other people to be wary of the resale marker.
She said: "I am usually pretty diligent about these types of things online and cautious with money.
"But these accounts looked like real, legit accounts.
"I was in disbelief. I felt unintelligent, gullible for falling for this.
"I know I'm a competent person. I thought competent people don't get scammed.
"I always thought it was easy things to spot.
"I run an online content creation business so if they were able to pull this off with me, how many other times have they managed to pull this off?"
Hira tried to get tickets for Adele's residency on general sale. But after that failed she turned to Facebook.
She said: "There was this massive Adele ticket resale group and I was very cautious of getting scammed as I hadn't done this process before.
"It said you can reach out to an admin to verify tickets and it seemed really nice and they were helping facilitate this process for fans."
Both Hira and the seller transferred the money and the tickets to the admin after making a Facebook group, who would then send them the opposite way.
But after sending the money via bitcoin, the 'middleman' claimed she hadn't received it.
Hira said: "I had never used bitcoin before and the mediating admin was saying how it'd be fine.
"I had a little bit more faith that it would work as I was sure they weren't working together.
"She made it seem like Venmo. I didn't want to be the reason that the whole deal fell through.
"So I sent the amount on bitcoin and she then sends me a screenshot saying it had been rejected and it'll be refunded in three to five days.
"On my side, it said completed payment."
Hira was starting to believe she had been scammed, and decided to check in with her bank and call the police.
She said: "I was getting upset at this point. They wanted me to send more money through a different bitcoin app.
"The seller was saying she was going to sell her tickets to another seller as she needed money for her ill son.
"I called my bank and said I think it might be a fraudulent payment and they told me to cut up my card.
"I confronted them saying I'd been scammed and they flipped it on me, saying I was being sketchy. They made it seem like I hadn't sent the money."
Hira was then contacted by another seller, she claims, who empathised with her problems.
She says the new seller reassured her that the middleman was legit, which convinced her to go back and try re-buy the original tickets through the middleman.
She was about to send more money - when her account reached its daily maximum.
Hira says this was a blessing as she now believes that the second seller was also in on the scam.
She said: "Maybe me learning this lesson now will prevent me from a scam on a much larger scale - that's how I justified it to myself."
Hira was able to secure tickets eventually, and had a great night.
She said: "The show was incredible.
"It was such a sweet moment and I've never seen my brother so excited, it was such a fun experience.
"Getting to appreciate her music live was worth the resale site prices!"