After realizing she was scammed, Jaclyn Moore was unable to recover the money she sent to a Facebook vendor
Amid the ups and downs of military family life, Jaclyn Moore wanted to treat her 5-year-old daughter to the ultimate gift and take her to see her favorite singer, Taylor Swift, in concert. Instead, a scammer left both mom and daughter disappointed and distraught over another canceled plan.
Moore decided to record her emotional reaction to the bad transaction -- which saw her send $1,000 to someone she believed to be a childhood friend selling tickets to Swift's Eras Tour on Facebook -- and recount the story for a TikTok. As she explained in her video, other friends informed Moore that the seller's Facebook account was hacked, and though the story sounded confusing, there was nothing Moore or her bank could do to recover the lost funds.
"I get to let my 5-year-old know that once again, we are not going to do what Mom and Dad promised," she tearfully told the camera, adding, "That's the part that's getting me ... This little kid has to live [the] military lifestyle that we picked, and she didn't."
Moore tells PEOPLE that for the next few months and year to follow, her husband Matt will be out at sea training with his Navy crew and preparing their ship for a 2026 deployment date. They previously wanted to take their daughter, Kinley, and 2-year-old son, Collin, on a Disney trip as a family, but they had to cancel due to Matt's military schedule.
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Being 5 years old, Kinley understood the Disney cancellation more than her brother, and Moore thought she found the perfect way to make it up to her when she spotted the Eras Tour tickets listed for sale on Facebook. According to her mom, Kinley is a major Swiftie. She has custom dolls designed to look like the Grammy winner and constantly listens to her music on her iPad. Moore even threw Kinley a Swift-themed party to celebrate her 5th birthday.
So while $1,000 was a steep price for their budget, Moore and Matt were willing to make it work. And considering the skyrocketed costs on other Eras Tour tickets, Moore actually thought it was a good deal for two seats. However when she filmed her TikTok video and reflected on the scam, Moore identified the pricing as a red flag.
The next sign to worry came when it was time for her to send the money via Apple Pay. The person behind the allegedly hacked account asked Moore to direct the funds to two different phone numbers.
"I wrote it off as maybe it was her husband's phone and they didn't share bank accounts," Moore tells PEOPLE. "I didn't want to push the issue because I just didn't want to do anything to rub her the wrong way and lose out on the chance to get the tickets for my daughter."
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Her suspicions bubbled as she waited for the tickets to come through. Eventually, Moore wrote to the seller to ask about it, only to realize they'd blocked her phone number and Facebook account.
"I had her family as mutual friends defending her, saying she would never do this and would never be caught dead listening to Taylor Swift, so it should have been a red flag there -- almost victim blaming me for it happening," the mom of two recalls. "She made a new Facebook account, but it's private and she has never reached out or apologized for the incident. "
Moore contacted her bank and Apple Pay support for help, but neither could do anything to restore her stolen funds. She says she's since deleted the person off social media to "wash my hands [of] the situation," but not before she let out her feelings in a TikTok with more than 117,000 views.
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She was partly motivated to make the video for the catharsis of talking it through, but she was mainly motivated to spread awareness about scams.
"I wanted to protect everybody else out there," says Moore. "I thought if I shared what happened to me in detail and [was] as vulnerable as I possibly could [be] ... maybe someone could remember my story and apply it in the future if they ever see anything like this."
In the comments, many TikTok users shared their own experiences with scams of all kinds, not just with buying tickets, though Moore says their stories all sounded remarkably similar.
"The storyline was the same, and so many people were saying how they were thankful that they saw my video because it stopped them from being scammed," she continues. "And that's really the whole point of the video."
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Other commenters wanted to help Moore's family find a solution. Some suggested starting a GoFundMe to repay them, and some even offered to send Kinley gifts. As much as she appreciated the kindness, Moore declined such generosity in the interest of owning her mistake. "They worked just as hard for their money as we did and shouldn't have to give it to us," she adds.
"As much as it did hurt us to lose the $1,000, that's not what really [matters] to me," Moore notes. "Money comes and goes, but the devastation my daughter has felt in this whole situation is something that will forever stick in my mind."
After making her TikTok video, Moore tells PEOPLE that she went inside to break the news to her daughter and walk her through what happened. To make up for some of the let down, the mother-daughter duo went to the store to buy orange balloons and reenact Swift's concert performance of her 2020 single "Willow" (with Collin joining in the fun).
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"[Kinley] was understandably upset about the situation and really disappointed, but I told her about all the nice people commenting on our video," Moore explains. In the meantime, the mom says they'll continue watching Swift's tour on Disney+ and tune into Kansas City Chiefs games to see her supporting her NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
Moore appreciates that one day Kinley will be able to look back at all the ways her mom tried to "make her Taylor Swift dream come true," from the costumes to the handmade toys and even the attempt to secure Eras Tour tickets.
"She'll realize how much I love her, and that's all that matters," says Moore.