Burlington, Ont. woman accused of accepting money for fake Taylor Swift tickets

Victims of Alleged Ticket Scam Seek Answers as Police Investigate

As Taylor Swift prepares for her final three sold-out concerts at the Rogers Centre this week, several individuals who claim to have fallen victim to an alleged ticket scam are searching for answers.

Victims have pointed to a woman from Burlington, Ontario, as the source from whom they bought tickets that were never delivered. They accuse 43-year-old Denise Tisor, who also goes by the name Denise Blackhawk on Facebook, of accepting nearly $300,000 for over 400 tickets, which were never provided.

Many victims reported feeling confident in Tisor due to past transactions and personal connections. One of the victims, Allison from Durham Region, shared with reporters how she had bought tickets from Tisor the previous summer. The two exchanged text messages, and Tisor even helped Allison print tickets to surprise her three daughters with them for Christmas. A video taken that morning showed the girls singing joyfully after receiving the tickets, but they later learned the tickets were fake.

"I wanted to go there so badly and just turns out we didn’t get to go," said Allison’s seven-year-old daughter. Allison was shocked by the number of people who had been deceived by Tisor. “There were hundreds of us. There are hundreds of us that believed her. She was that good,” she said.

Allison had heard about Tisor from a friend, LeAnne Underwood, who had bought tickets from her for a Pink concert at the Rogers Centre. “We went in the summer, and we had a great time. Like we actually went. So, it was reassuring because we had the tickets,” Underwood said.

Burlington teacher Tammy Allen also purchased Taylor Swift tickets from Tisor for her 13-year-old daughter. Tisor’s children attend Allen’s school, and they had known each other for a decade. Two days before the Nov. 16 concert, Allen was informed that her tickets may not arrive. When she called Tisor, she was told, “We don’t have your tickets.” Allen waited hours before breaking the news to her daughter, who was devastated.

Allen explained, “You just know that the inevitable is going to break somebody’s heart… And unfortunately, that for her was the car ride home after a winning hockey game.” Tisor had originally told Allen the tickets were from a corporate connection, but later explained that the money had been sent to a third party named Mark Harlow, who had disappeared.

A Burlington woman, who did not wish to be identified, created a Google document for others who had given money to Tisor. She revealed that 420 tickets had been involved in the scam, and some tickets had even been sold multiple times for the same event. In total, victims claim that over $295,000 was sent to Tisor for these tickets.

One victim, Lindsay from Kingston, said that when she asked Tisor about a refund policy, Tisor assured her she would receive a refund if the concert was canceled. However, when the tickets did not arrive, Tisor repeated the story about the third-party seller. Lindsay, along with other victims, reached out to Tisor for assistance, but she reportedly stopped responding and deleted them from Facebook.

Halton Police have confirmed they are investigating the alleged ticket scam and are urging anyone who believes they were a victim to come forward. Tammy Allen expressed a desire for the police to take action and hold Tisor accountable. “I just want to be able to say to my daughter and her friends that it’s not okay what happened, and we can’t do anything to fix it now. But our justice system can,” she said.