street. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – First Alert 4 Investigates is getting results for a local music fan after her concert tickets mysteriously disappeared from her account – along with thousands of dollars she paid. She was looking forward to seeing Asher, who performs at the Enterprise Center on Friday and Saturday nights this weekend.
After getting nothing done with Ticketmaster for weeks, she turned to lead investigator Lauren Trager, who learned this was happening nationwide.
“I’ve loved him for a really long time,” Erin Owens said.
Owens jumped at the chance to see Usher in St. Louis, where four tickets were purchased in March for a total of $2,500. She planned to take her favorite people.
“Just a little congratulations, just to thank everyone and show them how much I appreciate them helping me,” Owens said.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago…
“I went to my Ticketmaster account and saw that my tickets were gone,” she said.
They were transferred from her account by a scammer.
CBS stations across the country heard from viewers. A woman in Austin, Texas, was unable to see Usher after her tickets were stolen.
Others in Philadelphia lost tickets to concerts and sports games.
“Tickets are a valuable commodity nowadays, for sure. It’s one of those things — now we don’t carry them in our pockets anymore, so everything is available online, on computers and devices. It’s easy,” said Scott Graneman, a local cybersecurity expert. “It’s very important for anyone anywhere in the world to try to access your Ticketmaster account and transfer your tickets.”
Although Ticketmaster suffered a data breach earlier this year, this situation appears to be more related to people using less secure passwords, he said.
“Indications suggest that this is not a hack of Ticketmaster itself. Instead, many people are at risk of having their Ticketmaster accounts hacked because the thieves have found a new way to make money.
Granman added that Ticketmaster, like other companies, balances security with its services.
“On the one hand, people complain that they are not asked about security, but on the other hand, they will complain if they are asked too much. So it is very difficult for any company, including Ticketmaster,” Graneman said.
“It’s one of those things that you never thought could actually happen to you, but it did,” Owens said.
Owens told First Alert 4 Investigates she was devastated and in disbelief.
“I don’t really want my money back. I want my tickets,” she said.
She said her appeals to Ticketmaster went unanswered.
“I don’t necessarily know how it works, but I wish they would do more to help,” she said.
First Alert 4 Investigates contacted Ticketmaster on its behalf. After several inquiries, Ticketmaster sent out a statement:
“Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have dramatically reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs. Having this digital history is also how we can investigate the situation and recover fans’ tickets.”
The company also stated that it is “continuously investing in new security improvements to protect fans.”
Owens said she hopes Ticketmaster does the right thing.
“Shit, maybe even a promotion for me! God, that would be nice, they’ll put me there next to Asher. I’ll be on stage!” I joked.
After we contacted the ticket manager, Owens refunded two of the four tickets. So we got back with the Ticketmaster representatives.
On Tuesday afternoon, First Alert 4 Investigates received an update from Erin: “The process of getting the second half of the tickets was a little difficult as well. Again, I don’t think I would have gotten the second half without Lauren, but I’m happy and grateful that I got all four tickets It’s definitely a stressful process, but we got through it, and I’m excited for the party on Friday!
Owens had a confession to make: Her password wasn’t as strong as it could have been, but she’s changed it now.
Granneman recommends that each of your accounts have a unique, long password, and using a password manager is key. If you have an Apple phone, you already have one, and it’s free.
You can find more information here.
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