Fans across the country, in at least 18 states, have experienced the nightmare of having their tickets stolen from their Ticketmaster accounts. When checking their accounts, some weeks in advance and others just days before the event, they’ve been met with the scary reality that their tickets were transferred to strangers. Most found their original tickets relisted as “verified resale.”
According to information shared by news reports across the country between September 2024 and November 2024, it’s been reported that at least $30,000 worth of tickets total have been transferred to unauthorized parties.
This comes just months after Ticketmaster’s high-profile data breach in May 2024 that exposed over 500 million users’ personal information. The company assured concerned fans that while emails, phone numbers, encrypted credit card numbers, and other information were exposed, passwords weren’t visible.
But starting in September, fans began to witness their tickets get transferred to strangers without their permission. Some customers planned elaborate trips around their tickets, while others simply wanted to celebrate special occasions.
When contacting Ticketmaster Help Center, those who were lucky enough to receive a response were told that a representative would contact them 3-5 days after the phone call. Others were met with a dial tone, no assistance, and certainly not their stolen tickets returned.
In response to the stolen tickets, Ticketmaster released a statement telling fans to set stronger passwords. Sure, that advice is a solution for enhancing individual account security. But it does not tackle the root cause of such breaches.
The company should prioritize and invest in more robust cybersecurity measures to prevent hacks from occurring in the first place. However, there appears to be little incentive for this kind of investment to keep customers. As the dominant player in the ticketing industry with limited competition, clearly they don’t feel pressure, thanks in part to the very anticompetitive tactics that invited the DOJ lawsuit.
Until fans have a competitive market for ticketing, Ticketmaster will have little to no incentive to invest in a platform that actually serves fans and prevents issues like widespread ticket theft.