News
Concert Ticket Scams Leave Fans Frustrated and Helpless
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Savannah Van Skyhawk was eagerly anticipating a concert in November when she encountered a shocking setback. Her four tickets, secured over a year ago at face value, mysteriously disappeared from her Ticketmaster account.
“[Scammers] took my tickets, transferred them elsewhere, and then I couldn’t get back into my Ticketmaster account,” Van Skyhawk explained. The tickets, purchased for approximately $300 each, were now seen listed at resale values as high as $4,000 or $5,000 each, leaving replacement options financially out of reach.
Upon discovering she was locked out of her account, Van Skyhawk contacted Ticketmaster multiple times over nearly three weeks. “They would tell me, ‘We’d call you in three to five days.’ So, I’d wait, and they wouldn’t call,” she recounted. “I tried calling them again, and again they’d say three to five days. It was just a cycle; nobody ever called me.”
To her dismay, someone seemingly posted her tickets on a resale platform, identical in section and row, but seat numbers were omitted. Van Skyhawk was left wondering, “What are the odds?”
When 13News intervened, Ticketmaster restored Van Skyhawk’s account and tickets promptly. “They didn’t explain how it happened,” she said. “They just suggested I change my email and password once I was back in my account.”
Similar incidents have surfaced online, with users sharing experiences of stolen tickets and either posting frustrations or reporting satisfactory resolutions. This issue is not isolated; Ticketmaster has been aware of unauthorized ticket transfers, often attributed to weak password management.
In a statement to 13News, Ticketmaster advised, “Fans should use a strong, unique password for their Ticketmaster account, similar to what they would use for a bank account.”
Van Skyhawk, relieved to have her tickets back, looks forward to the concert. This incident highlights the widespread concern over ticket scams as fans continue to navigate the risks of digital ticketing amid high resale market values.
