AFL forced to reissue Grand Final tickets after website hacked

The AFL has been forced to cancel and reissue tickets just days out from the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans Grand Final clash after an online portal was hacked.

Josh Dunkley and Jarrod Berry surrounded by Lions fans. Picture Lachie Millard

AFL fans holding corporate tickets for the much-anticipated Grand Final this weekend have had their barcodes cancelled after the portal was hacked and tickets stolen.

The AFL Event Office on Tuesday morning were forced to cancel all barcodes for corporate hospitality experience tickets after they were advised of unauthorised access to a “number of batches” of tickets via the AFL Event Office platform.

It is understood customers holding tickets for the Before the Bounce, Crown Grand Final Breakfast, Grand Final Plus Pass, Hassett Room, Ultimate Nobu and Ultimate Sweet experiences were affected.

Charlie Cameron signs a footy for 5-year-old Hunter Ward. Picture: Lachie Millard.

“AFL Event Office has identified that some corporate ticketing across a number of experiences was illegally downloaded and the AFL Integrity Unit is now in contact with Victoria Police regarding the matter. Victoria Police is investigating the unauthorised access to the AFL Event Office tickets,” an AFL spokesman said.

“Out of an abundance of caution the AFL has cancelled all barcodes for these corporate hospitality experience tickets purchased via the AFL Event Office and will reissue the tickets later this week.”

It is unclear how many of the tickets were accessed illegally.

Club members, AFL members, MCC members, Medallion Club members, corporate suite holders, September Club members, and club and AFL stakeholders were not affected.

“As will be advised directly to the relevant ticket holders who purchased a ticket for an AFL Event Office experience and have received a ticket today, they should delete those tickets as the barcode/s will not work on Saturday at the MCG,” the spokesman said.

Avid Brisbane Lions supporter Reece Melvin discover his Corporate Package – the Grand Final Plus Pass valued between $1695 and $2295 – tickets had been wiped by the AFL after receiving an email yesterday.

Mr Melvin, who has been a fan since 1998 and purchased the package in June, said he had got similar packages for the past five or six years and this had never happened before.

Avid Lions fan Reece Melvin brought a package which included tickets to the Preliminary Final and Grand Final. Picture: Supplied

“I don’t give my password to anyone, if they got into the corporates, they must have some spyware or some hacking device to try and get in there somehow, I don’t know how they would have got that because that’s quite expensive tickets as well,” he said.

“It just feels like everyone’s going to be stuck outside the ground with the way that it’s going at the moment … it makes you worried when you get that email.”

He said it was concerning someone could hack into a corporate website and find fans’ tickets.

“The MCG has a grand final every year so you would think it would be much smoother than this,” Mr Melvin said.

The breach comes as scalpers attempt to sell sought after grand final tickets at inflated prices, often directing potential buyers to message them privately to negotiate prices.

Under Queensland law it is illegal to advertise and sell tickets for more than 10 per cent above their face value.

However, many have been selling tickets for far above face value on platforms such as Facebook and in some cases were looking to sell finals tickets for up to 300 per cent more than the original price.

Several Brisbane Lions Fans have been quick to point out scammers in Facebook groups, saying they had messaged the alleged scalpers who attempted to sell tickets for hundreds of dollars more than face value.

In some cases last week, scammers were selling tickets online prior to the ballot having finished on Ticketek.

The AFL have strongly urged Sydney Swans and Lions fans to not purchase tickets from anyone other than Ticketek, the AFL Event Office or an authorised hospitality agent.

“Any ticket purchased in any other way does not guarantee entry to the AFL Grand Final, to avoid extreme disappointment, please ensure that you do not purchase tickets from an unauthorised seller,” a spokesman said.