After recent hack, Ticketmaster sending authentication code before transferring tickets
When people's tickets were stolen from their Ticketmaster accounts, CBS News Philadelphia got answers. We helped track down a pair of Philadelphia Eagles tickets, and after our report last week, some people questioned the security surrounding transferring tickets. Now, CBS News Philadelphia is learning you might have to verify a transfer before you send off the tickets.
One week ago, Lisa Bell had lost all hope of being able to send her daughter to Sunday's Eagles game after purchasing tickets. She was out more than $700 when her tickets were mysteriously transferred from her Ticketmaster account to someone she didn't know. She says she spent hours on the phone trying to reach a Ticketmaster rep. With no luck, she called CBS News Philadelphia. We helped her get them back.
Her daughter will be at the game Sunday after all since Bell transferred the tickets to her, but that's not the only reason Lisa is satisfied.
"It was really a great feeling that it was an authentication process that when I did hit to transfer that my telephone was notified, it gave me a code that I had to put in and then I was able to successfully transfer to my daughter," Bell said.
That was news to Bell and CBS News Philadelphia because when the tickets were suddenly transferred from her account ten days ago, Bell said she did not receive a text with a code to authenticate the transfer.
According to Ticketmaster's website, it uses two-factor authentication, but it's only triggered when you print your verified tickets or change your e-mail address on a device it doesn't recognize. A video uploaded more than a year ago shows step-by-step instructions on how to transfer a ticket. It does not mention two-factor authentication.
It's unclear when Ticketmaster started using a verification process for transferring tickets and whether or not it happens with every transfer.
CBS News Philadelphia reached out multiple times for clarification, but Ticketmaster has not gotten back to us.