How to Buy Tickets on Reddit Without Getting Scammed

I moderate r/TicketResale, a community serving more than 20,000 fans, and operate VouchFirst. I have reviewed ticket ownership evidence from more than 800 sellers and documented hundreds of reported scam accounts across Reddit and X. This work has exposed me to a wide range of recurring and emerging social-media ticket scams, including stolen Ticketmaster screenshots, compromised Reddit accounts and payment-switch tactics.

You can find Reddit ticket sellers by creating your own ticket request or searching existing listings. Start by choosing a subreddit that permits ticket buying and selling and has active moderation.

Do not assume that every artist or event subreddit allows ticket sales. Read the community rules before posting because some subreddits prohibit transactions, restrict new accounts or require a particular post format.

Look for a dedicated ticket community such as r/TicketResale, an official artist subreddit or a subreddit created for the event. Poorly moderated communities give scammers more opportunities to post fake listings, privately contact buyers and return under different usernames.

Before posting, check whether the community requires:

• A minimum account age or karma level
• A specific title or listing format

r/TicketResale is an actively moderated ticket-buying and selling community with more than 20,000 members.

Disclosure: The author is a moderator of r/TicketResale.

Open the subreddit and select the Create Post button.

Your post should clearly include:

• The artist, team or event
• The event date, city and venue
• The number of tickets you need
• Your preferred section or seating area
• Your maximum budget, when appropriate
• That you will only pay through PayPal Goods and Services
• That the seller must be willing to join a brief FaceTime or live video call before payment

Open the seller’s Reddit profile by clicking on their username and check both the Posts and Comments tabs. Two common types of Reddit ticket scammers are easy to identify: careless scammers and more sophisticated scammers.

Level 1: Careless Reddit ticket scammers

Beginner scammers often leave the same message under multiple BUY posts, such as “I have tickets” or “DM me.” They may also create listings for several unrelated high-demand events at the same time.

Common warning signs include:

• Commenting under nearly every WTB, ISO or LF post
• Copying and pasting the same sales message repeatedly
• Selling tickets for unrelated artists, sports and festivals
• Claiming to have tickets across several cities or countries

For example, one ordinary user claiming to have BTS tickets in London, Ariana Grande tickets in Toronto, World Cup tickets in the United States and Coachella wristbands in California is difficult to explain as a normal private seller.

Level 2: More sophisticated ticket scammers

More experienced scammers try to delete or obscure the Reddit activity that would expose them.

They may also:

• Delete posts and comments that reveal ticket-selling activity
• Only contact buyers through direct messages
• Buy, borrow or compromise a high-karma Reddit account

A clean profile is therefore not automatically a safe profile. No visible ticket history may mean the user is a legitimate first-time seller, but it may also mean that previous activity was deleted or hidden.

Ask a DM-only seller to leave a public comment on your post. This does not prove that the seller is legitimate, but it creates a visible connection and may reveal that the account has been banned from the subreddit.

Tool 1: Search the VouchFirst scammer directory

Search the seller’s exact Reddit username in the VouchFirst ticket scammer directory. The directory tracks reported scam accounts across Reddit and X and may reveal reports that are no longer visible on the seller’s current profile.

Search carefully for exact spellings, similar usernames and connected identities the seller provides during the transaction.

Tool 2: Search deleted activity with Arctic Shift

Arctic Shift (opens in a new tab) provides a searchable interface for archived Reddit posts and comments. Search the seller’s exact username and look for deleted ticket listings, repeated sales language and claims that conflict with their current story.

Fake user vouches

Some subreddits and Facebook groups use user-to-user vouches, where one account claims that another account completed a ticket sale. These comments are easy to manufacture. A scammer can control both accounts, ask an accomplice to comment or reuse a chat from another transaction.

VouchFirst provides an independent evidence-review process. We can review original purchase evidence and evidence of previous resale-platform transactions, but a VouchFirst vouch is still a risk signal rather than a guarantee of a future sale.

Sharing a real-looking social media account

Scammers may share a real-looking social media account and claim that you can expose them to their friends, family or followers if anything goes wrong. That account may still be stolen, purchased, compromised or impersonated, and scam reports are often fragmented across different platforms. The VouchFirst scammer directory helps connect reports across Reddit and X, but a missing report is not proof that an account is safe.

Sharing a photo of an ID

A passport, driver’s licence, national ID, student card or work badge may be edited, AI-generated, stolen from a previous victim or taken from a public profile. Identity documents are not proof of ticket ownership.

Never publish an ID after a scam. You may expose an innocent person whose identity was stolen. Save it privately and submit it only through the appropriate payment, platform or law-enforcement process.

Asking for a small ticket deposit

Scammers often create artificial deadlines: another buyer is waiting, the transfer window is closing, the seller is entering a meeting or the price expires in ten minutes. They may ask you for a small deposit to “reserve” the tickets, or promise to send the tickets one at a time after partial payments. The smaller amount feels less risky, allowing the scammer to collect deposits from several buyers for the same fake or stolen ticket.

A real Ticketmaster, AXS, DICE or venue ticket is not automatically a ticket that can be safely transferred to you.

Before paying, confirm:

• Which platform originally issued the ticket
• Whether transfer is enabled for this exact event
• Whether transfer is delayed until closer to the event
• Whether the ticket is tied to the original purchaser
• Whether identification or card verification is required at entry
• Whether the ticket uses a rotating barcode, QR code, PDF or wristband
• Which email address or phone number must receive the transfer
• Whether the transfer deadline has already passed

Who should go first?

In a typical private ticket transaction, the buyer pays before the seller completes the transfer. Requiring a legitimate seller to transfer first can expose them to losing a valid ticket without receiving payment.

That does not mean the buyer should send irreversible money and hope for the best. PayPal Goods and Services may provide Purchase Protection for eligible transactions, subject to PayPal's current terms, deadlines and evidence requirements.

Who pays the PayPal Goods and Services fee?

PayPal deducts the commercial transaction fee from the seller's payment. For a private Reddit ticket sale, VouchFirst recommends that the buyer covers this cost by paying an all-in amount about 3% higher than the agreed ticket price. For example, if the ticket price is $100, the buyer would pay about $103 through Goods and Services.

The exact fee can vary by country, currency and transaction type, so confirm the final all-in amount before payment. The seller should still receive the payment as Goods and Services; the fee is not a reason to switch the purchase to Friends and Family.

Use PayPal Goods and Services for a private sale

PayPal says eligible purchases may qualify for Purchase Protection when an item is not received or is significantly different from its description. Eligibility, exclusions, deadlines, evidence requirements and PayPal’s decision still apply. Read the current PayPal Purchase Protection terms (opens in a new tab) before relying on them.

Write the following in the payment description and chat:

• Event, venue and date
• Quantity, section, row and seat where applicable
• Total all-in price
• Original ticketing platform
• Agreed transfer email address or phone number
• Transfer deadline

Do not use PayPal Friends and Family

Friends and Family is a personal payment type, not the correct classification for buying a ticket from a stranger. PayPal warns buyers to refuse when a seller asks for a Friends and Family payment for a good or service because the payment is not covered by Purchase Protection. See PayPal’s explanation of Friends and Family payment scams (opens in a new tab).

Do not use Zelle for a stranger’s ticket

Zelle recommends against using the service when you do not know the recipient or are not sure you will receive the item. It also states that Zelle does not offer purchase protection when an authorized purchase is not received or is not as described. Read Zelle’s own guidance on paying someone you do not know (opens in a new tab).

Distinguish Apple Cash from Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a wallet technology used for many types of transactions. Apple Cash is the person-to-person payment feature relevant to direct transfers. Apple advises users to send money only to people they know and trust, and warns that money sent for something not received may be difficult to recover. See Apple’s guide to avoiding scams with Apple Cash (opens in a new tab).

Also avoid irreversible or seller-supplied methods

• Cryptocurrency
• Gift cards
• Wire transfers or direct bank transfers
• Cash App or another person-to-person transfer without suitable protection
• A “buyer protection” or “insurance” service supplied by the seller
• A release, activation, verification or guarantee fee

The FTC warns that scammers often push difficult-to-reverse payment methods. Its ticket guidance also warns about fake sellers advertising through social media and selling the same seat more than once. Review the FTC’s guidance on ticket scams around the World Cup (opens in a new tab) and gift card scams (opens in a new tab).

Keep the complete transaction record

• The original Reddit post and seller profile URL
• The full chat, not only selected screenshots
• The seller’s payment name and email
• The buyer and seller ticketing-account details
• The ticket description, proof and agreed price
• The payment transaction record
• Official transfer and acceptance emails
• Any cancellation, refund or failed-transfer messages

Keep the records until after the event and until any relevant dispute period has passed.