Taylor Swift will perform the first of her Australian Eras Tour concerts in just hours in front of what’s expected to be the biggest audiences of her entire career.

As fans are already congregating at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ahead of her first concert on Friday night, crowds are expected to reach at least 260,000 people across her three dates at the stadium.

The Melbourne dates will be followed by four sold-out concerts from the 14-time Grammy winner at Sydney’s Accor Stadium from next Friday.

Hundreds of people were already queuing Friday afternoon at the MCG fora a chance to buy Swift merchandise ahead of the concert.

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The Eras Tour takes in every phase of Taylor Swift’s career in a concert that runs more than three hours, from her Fearless album to Reputation and the more recent Midnights.

Fans have spent hours queuing and waiting on websites to secure coveted tickets to the show, with a second last-minute release of tickets on Thursday and the promise of further tickets being released on show days.

But the desperate Swifties have been warned to cautious before parting with their cash for tickets.

A search of “Taylor Swift Melbourne” on X (formerly Twitter) reveals dozens of people purporting to be selling tickets to Friday’s concert.

Scam warning

But ticket scams have been rife since the tour was first announced last year.

The ACCC has received more than 406 reports to Scamwatch regarding Taylor Swift ticket scams, with total losses of at least $183,000.

Last month it warned of a social media scam, where scammers would hack social media accounts to sell fake Taylor Swift tickets to the compromised account’s friends list.

An ACCC spokesperson last month urged fans looking to secure last minute tickets to The Eras Tour to be cautious of scammers selling fake tickets on social media.

Victoria Police said scammers were hacking social media accounts to sell fake tickets.

“The scammers will advertise their tickets ‘at cost price’ with a story behind why they can no longer attend,” a police statement said.

“They may try to rush you into buying the tickets and transferring them money. As well as the ticket price, they’ll likely ask you to pay the extra fees to change the name on the ticket.”

The concerts are expected to provide a massive economic boost for Victoria and NSW, with Swifties from interstate and overseas booking flights and hotels.

The city’s free tram zone has been extended to the MCG, and extra train, tram and bus services will be running on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Concertgoers from regional Victoria have been urged to make alternative arrangements as V/Line rail staff staged another round of strikes on Friday.

The industrial action took place from 3am on Friday through to 7am, with some services delayed and cancelled through the day.

– with AAP