Taylor Swift fans panic as tickets “disappear” as hackers infiltrate Ticketek
Potentially hundreds of fans have had their Taylor Swift tickets stolen just days away from her Eras Tour kick off.
The Ticketek accounts of potentially hundreds of Taylor Swift fans have been hacked and their tickets to the shows stolen and sold on the official resale platform, in a major breach of security just days out from the start of superstar’s sold-out Australian tour.
Unwitting fans who bought their tickets second-hand from Ticketek Marketplace could be ejected from their seats at the concerts, as Ticketek on Monday conceded the fresh concerns about hackers are among the “thousands” of complaints they were fielding about fraudulent Taylor Swift tickets and other scams.
Ticketek has been forced to open “customer service pop-ups” at the MCG and the Accor Stadium in Sydney from the Wednesday before each show to deal with aggrieved customers.
Panicked fans have taken to social media after their tickets mysteriously “disappeared” from their Ticketek accounts, just days before the megastar singer-songwriter begins the Australian leg of her sold-out world tour.
Many were shocked to find their tickets ‘voided’ or ‘invalid,’ or to be told the ‘event no longer exists’.
And in several cases, customers had their Ticketek accounts hacked and their personal details stolen and changed, before being notified their tickets had been “successfully” listed and resold by the thieves on the Australian ticketing company’s official resale platform.
Ticketek Marketplace has been plagued by problems since its November launch, including fans paying for tickets but never receiving them, scalpers buying and reselling tickets for up to 30 per cent more than the original price – in breach of Australian law – and now, excited Swifties losing their tickets.
The site is the only authorised resale platform available for Taylor Swift tickets in Australia, and boasts to customers that they can “buy guaranteed tickets for sold out events at a fair price” and avoid scalpers and scammers.
Victims of the hack are demanding that Ticketek tighten security on the platform, including introducing two-factor authentication to protect tickets and private information.
Brisbane woman Trish Lang has had her Ticketek account hacked, and her tickets for three separate concerts stolen and resold.
They are also warning fans to check their tickets early, amid concerns of chaos at the stadiums when concertgoers try to scan in their tickets.
Ms Lang said she first discovered the fraud in early December, before the Melbourne show of American alt-country musician Zach Bryan, when she noticed the names on her tickets had been changed.
In the Ticketek app she could see all of her details – including name, email, phone number and bank account details – had been replaced by someone else’s.
The same thing happened for her tickets to Pink and Taylor Swift; all had been sold on Ticketek Marketplace.
She had booked flights and accommodation months ahead of the interstate Bryan and Swift shows.
“[Ticketek] said they couldn’t do anything about it, my official advice from them was turn up to the concert as early as possible and hope to scan in before the other people do,” Ms Lang said.
The Queensland mum said she had emailed Ticketek about 50 times since December 15, and only received four “lame blanket” responses, so she filed a complaint with police.
“I’ve even done my own investigation and I can see the BSB details for this guy who hacked the account, and the fact that Ticketek can’t – I’ve sent all this information to them,” Ms Lang said.
“I’m a regular person. They should be able to track everything … and be able to reach out to at least the poor people who think they’ve bought (legitimate) tickets on Marketplace.”
The Australian has also spoken to Rachael Hughes from the Gold Coast and Ben, who requested his last name remain anonymous, in Melbourne, who say they have had their Ticketek accounts hacked, and their Taylor Swift tickets stolen and resold.
Ben, his partner, and friends spent over $5000 on Taylor Swift tickets - including VIP packages valued at over $1200 - before the theft. They were able to go to a Ticketek booth in person to prove their account was hacked and that they were the original buyers.
He was able to replace the tickets and change his password, but just days later, he found the new ticket details had been changed again by a hacker.
“They changed the password on the account, however that doesn’t change the password on the app and over the weekend I noticed someone had changed [the ticket] details again and they had been shared with other people,” he said.
“The problem is they’ve also said if you get there and there’s people in your seats you have to go to security [and] Ticketek because they’ll be able to kick them out because your details are connected.”
Ms Hughes, who has not had her matter resolved, was also told officials at the Swift concerts would be “loyal to the first buyer,” leaving fans who unknowingly bought the tickets off Ticketek Marketplace potentially barred from watching the concert, or even ejected from their seats.
“How unfair is that for someone that also innocently thinks that they’re going? They could have bought last-minute flights and spent thousands of dollars, and you’re just going to kick them out of their seats that they purchased through a legitimate company,” Ms Hughes said.
Ticketek told The Australian that their customer solutions team was dealing with thousands of queries that either relate to “fraudulent tickets or other scams”.
“Unfortunately, these are indicative of the length unscrupulous fraudsters will go to capitalise on the Taylor phenomenon. We will continue to dedicate significant responses to ensure that real fans are protected,” a Ticketek spokesperson said.
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