After scammers swipe tickets from 2 Steelers fans, here's how to protect yourself
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Scammers are swiping tickets from Ticketmaster accounts, and it's hitting Pittsburghers hard.
From the hottest concerts to the biggest games, fans are finding themselves locked out of their accounts with no tickets. KDKA Consumer Investigator Meghan Schiller explains some simple steps that'll save you a big headache.
Avid Steelers fan Ashley Vay said she wanted tickets to the Steelers-Cowboys game on Oct. 6 at Acrisure Stadium.
"I bought them on a Monday. And then I woke up to a message that said my tickets had been successfully transferred. So, I was like 'Wait, that's weird, I don't remember transferring these tickets to anybody.,'" the Dormont resident said.
It's because she didn't transfer them. Scammers swiped them. Vay then started the online back-and-forth chat relationship with Ticketmaster's fraud department.
She said Ticketmaster kept sending her a generic response asking for 24 to 48 hours to resolve the issue until it was too late.
"I'm pretty much assuming I'm not going to get my seats back. But prior to all of this, I was kind of curious to see if my tickets were somewhere else for sale, and I did find them. They were relisted on StubHub for about $500 more than what I had purchased them for."
Vay watched the game from the couch and disputed the charge with her bank. But she is far from alone.
KDKA Investigates reached out to Ticketmaster to ask about its security protocols. Ticketmaster said its digital ticketing has greatly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicated PDFs, saying in part, "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."
KDKA Investigates also learned from talking with various scam victims that Ticketmaster prioritizes those with upcoming shows. If it is not successful in returning the tickets, like in Vay's case, it will issue a refund.
Michael Bruemmer is the head of Experian's Global Data Breach Resolution, and he thinks passwords are to blame for a lot of this.
"Have they given out their username and password to someone else? That's number one. And two, whether it's Ticketmaster or another ticketing site, they should always have a second factor of authentication — either a biometric thumbprint, a text to a phone number — so that they can authenticate."
Bruemmer urges people to create a throw-away email account for buying tickets and other big-ticket items.
"Particularly coming up to the holidays when people are going to be making more online purchases, use a throwaway email account. And then for your payment, don't connect it directly to your bank account. Because if somebody gets that bank account information, they have access to your mortgage, your car loans, lines of credit," said Bruemmer.
Christine Kreider lost five football tickets and said that Ticketmaster told her to change her passwords.
"We are all guilty of using passwords over and over," Kreider said.
It worked out for her in the end, as Ticketmaster secured her seats again just in time for the big game.
"I did file a report, though, with the attorney general of Pennsylvania, because they're like, 'Yeah, this is a big deal, and the more people say something, something has to has to happen,'" said Kreider.
Ticketmaster did make both Steelers fans whole, securing Kreider's seats and refunding Vay.