Have Ticketmaster tickets? Check your account to make sure they're still there
People are turning to CBS News Philadelphia after their tickets were stolen right from their Ticketmaster accounts. Turns out it's a problem happening nationwide.
Lisa Bell bought tickets for the Eagles game next Sunday for her daughter who has never been to a game. Bell spent more than $700 on the tickets purchased on Ticketmaster. Then, two days ago, Bell said she received an email that her tickets had been transferred.
When she opened the Ticketmaster app, she said the tickets had been transferred to someone she didn't know.
She said she then spent hours on the phone trying to reach a Ticketmaster representative with no luck.
"We're going to watch the Eagles on television. I probably will never order off of Ticketmaster again," Bell said.
Wilmington's Cara Gaudino is in Philly for the weekend hoping to see a comedy show at The Met on Sunday. She made the plans back in March. Days ago, just like Bell, Gaudino said, "I get an email that says your tickets have been transferred to somebody else."
She said Ticketmaster should have another layer of security before transferring tickets from one account to another.
"When people log into your account or, you know, try to transfer tickets, send us a text then so we can make sure it's us, she said."
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to Ticketmaster. They say scammers are accessing email accounts. The full statement from a Ticketmaster spokesperson said:
"Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have greatly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicated PDFs. Having that digital history is also how we are able to investigate and successfully return tickets for fans. The top way fans can protect themselves is setting a strong unique password for all accounts – especially for their personal email which is where we often see security issues originate. Scammers are looking for new cheats across every industry, and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable, so Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security enhancements to safeguard fans."
It's unclear how big this problem is.
After CBS News Philadelphia contacted Ticketmaster about this issue, one of Bell's Eagles tickets had been recovered and Gaudino's two show tickets had been restored to her account.