HOUSTON – A Sugar Land girl’s dreams of seeing one of her favorite country singers in concert, are now shattered after her mom says they were scammed out of a thousand dollars.
After seeing a post online advertising Morgan Wallen tickets, they shelled out the money but never got the goods.
The message Sugar Land Police are sounding off: If it seems too good to be true it probably is.
On StubHub, you can see tickets to the upcoming concert average about $700, so Lana Taylor had some reservations when she saw great seats advertised for a fraction of that.
Since appearing on The Voice nine years ago, Wallen has morphed into country music superstar. Lana’s 12-year-old daughter Tenley is one of his biggest fans.
“I like him a lot, like even all my friends know I love him,” Tenley said.
It seemed like a dream come true when her mother saw what appeared to be a fellow member of the Sugar Land moms Facebook group, selling tickets to Wallen’s upcoming concert
“For $200 each. And she asked me how many I wanted, I said all five,” Lana said.
She forked over $1,000; $500 through Zelle and another $500 through Venmo.
“She said the Zelle was her husband. Like it kind of was a red flag, because I was like ‘why don’t they have the same last name?’ then I thought OK that’s kind of normal,” Lana said.
The Venmo name also didn’t match.
“What was a really big red flag was the Venmo was her cousin,” she said.
Instead of getting the tickets, the family was dealt an unpleasant surprise. The user asked for $250 more, saying her husband told her she didn’t sell them for enough.
“That’s when I said like ‘No, I’m not sending you anymore money, we had a deal either send me the tickets or refund me,’” Lana said.
She didn’t get her money back, but she did get blocked by the user when she tried to warn others about what she and Tenley are now convinced was a scam.
“I’m upset but I’m thankful that my mom tried,” Tenley said.
Though the Taylors say they’ll likely miss the concert, they’re considering this a lesson learned.
“In the beginning, I was super excited, but then towards the end I was just disappointed,” Tenley said.
As Sugar Land police investigate, they want to remind the public about their Property Transaction Parking Zones outside police stations.
They recommend private citizens go there during the day when the areas are monitored to buy and sell goods, even things like digital tickets.
The Better Business Bureau also offers tips.
