Fake Eras Tour tickets: How a $265K scam tricked 107 Canadians — and how to protect yourself

None of the tickets existed. When buyers went to access their seats, there was nothing there; when they reached out for refunds, they were told a third party had stolen the funds. An investigation by the Toronto Police could not prove third-party theft.

For any Canadian in the market for resale tickets, it’s a lesson in how unpredictable and largely unregulated the third-party ticket market remains.

What actually happened in the Eras Tour ticket scam

Tisor told victims their tickets would not be available until a few days before the concert, a delay tactic that pushed the deception past the point where most buyers could still find a legitimate seat elsewhere. Investigators say the couple used the money to place bets on online gambling platforms and made roughly 350 ATM withdrawals totalling $297,000 over the same period. Tisor eventually stated that she had been struggling with a gambling addiction.

The reason why Tisor and her partner were able to succeed with their fraud was that the ticket scam never looked suspicious at the moment of purchase. Buyers dealt with a real person, got a plausible excuse and had no reason to doubt the transaction until the concert date arrived and the tickets simply weren’t available.

Why a private seller can be the riskiest option

Buying directly from an individual, through a resale group, social media marketplace or a friend of a friend, tends to feel safer than it is. There’s rarely a receipt, no platform standing behind the transaction and no way to confirm the tickets are real until the event itself. By then, the seller can disappear and the money is gone.

The Competition Bureau of Canada, the federal agency that investigates deceptive marketing practices, warns that fraudulent sellers often build convincing fake storefronts or social ads, and lean on urgency to get buyers to pay before they think it through.

For anyone in Canada considering resale tickets for any type of event, this is a stark reminder that the third-party ticket market remains something of a Wild West, with limited regulation and few consumer protections. But there are ways to mitigate these risks.

How to spot a fake ticket listing before you pay

According to the Competition Bureau, warning signs include:

• prices well below or above the going rate
• unprofessional or unfamiliar seller websites
• tickets shown only as photos or screenshots, not official digital passes
• pressure to pay immediately or through unusual methods
• no confirmation email or receipt after payment

Any one of these should be reason enough to walk away, regardless of how far along the deal has gone.