Scalpers are already cashing in on fans’ eagerness to see Taylor Swift, with ticket prices soaring on dodgy reseller websites – prompting government action and a warning to buyers.

VIP packages for Swift’s five Sydney and Melbourne shows in February 2024 were released to American Express VIP buyers on Monday, at a price of $1249 through Ticketek.

The site promptly crashed, with an American Express spokesperson blaming “high demand”.

By Monday afternoon, tickets were already available on scalping websites – at a hefty mark-up.

Consumer advocate group Choice said Viagogo had listings for Swift’s February gig for up to $2678 a ticket. Another scalping site, The Ticket Merchant, was selling them for $1999.

Up to 450,000 tickets are expected to be sold for Swift’s concerts in Melbourne and Sydney next February. Prices through Ticketek start as low as $79.90, and range up to the $1249 VIP package.

Potential legal trouble for scalpers

Choice head of policy and government relations Patrick Veyret said the dramatic mark-ups ahead of the main ticket sales event on Thursday were “disappointing and shocking” – and urged wannabe concert-goers to be careful.

“This appears to be a flagrant disregard of ticket-scalping laws in NSW,” he said on Tuesday.

“The conduct should firmly be in the crosshairs of consumer protection regulators.”

In NSW, anti-scalping legislation means tickets to major events cannot be sold on for more than 10 per cent above their original price. The maximum penalties for breaching the state’s scalping laws are $110,000 for a corporation or $22,000 for an individual.

In Victoria, where the state government moved quickly on Tuesday to declare Swift’s Eras Tour a major event, penalties range from $908 up to $545,220.

Cabinet minister Gabrielle Williams said the Andrews government was trying to limit Swift scalping.

“I’m sure she won’t be the only cause of this sort of conduct,” Ms Williams said on Tuesday.”

“But if my Facebook feed is anything to go by, it is quite a competitive field out there. There’s a lot of stressed parents with high-anxiety young people wanting to get to that gig.”

Late on Monday, The Ticket Merchant said its compliance team had monitored and removed listings that breached state laws.

“If a ticket is sold in breach of these legislations, the customer is refunded on identification of the breach,” a spokesperson told Choice.

“Taylor Swift has a huge number of face-value price points, with tickets available to be purchased from multiple sources. All of these allocations often come in with different price points, which makes policing listings quite difficult.

“If something doesn’t appear to be in compliance, we ask for evidence and remove the listing.

“At present, there are no listings live on our website for this event in Sydney.”

Choice said a check later on Monday had found all Taylor Swift listings had been removed.

Rival Viagogo has been the subject of numerous complaints about scalping. Most recently, it was last year fined $7 million after being the subject of legal action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Choice said Viagogo did not respond to its requests for comment.

Tweet from @ABSStats

There is still hope for fans

Choice said it had reported extensively on customers who used reselling websites only to never receive their tickets, receive fake tickets, or be turned away at the venue.

“It’s why consumers should steer clear of unauthorised ticket resellers and only buy tickets from the official website or official reseller,” it said.

Ticketek will launch an official reselling website in September.

Mr Veyret said digital platforms such as Google should also take more responsibility for promoting the websites of illegal resellers.

“We need clear and consistent federal ticket scalping rules in Australia. We currently have a piecemeal approach to ticket scalping regulations across different states and territories. People deserve the same consumer protections across the country,” he said.

• Taylor Swift will play two shows at the MCG in Melbourne and three shows at Sydney’s Accor Stadium from February 16-25. The main ticket sale for her Eras tour begins on Thursday.