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“I couldn’t even log in,” screams Taylor Swift fan as $792 tickets disappear from Ticketmaster account after an error message

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“I couldn’t even log in,” screams Taylor Swift fan as 2 tickets disappear from Ticketmaster account after an error message

A TAYLOR Swift fan was left disillusioned after she spent $800 on concert tickets only to find they had disappeared from her account.

Megan Leiss bought four tickets to Swift’s Eras Tour, which began as a typical purchase on Ticketmaster over a year ago.

Megan Leiss, who bought four tickets to an upcoming Taylor Swift concert

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Megan Leiss, who bought four tickets to an upcoming Taylor Swift concertPhoto credit: Courtesy of Megan Leiss
Leiss asked Ticketmaster for help getting her tickets back via Messages on X

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Leiss asked Ticketmaster for help getting her tickets back via Messages on XPhoto credit: Courtesy of Megan Leiss
Taylor Swift performs at the Eras Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 30, 2023

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Taylor Swift performs at the Eras Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 30, 2023Photo credit: Getty

After a short break, Swift will continue her legendary Eras tour with one final US leg starting October 18th.

Leiss, a pharmacist from Cincinnati, Ohio, charged $792 for tickets to her credit card on August 11, 2023.

Then this week, ahead of the Nov. 1 concert, Leiss checked her Ticketmaster app for her tickets — and found she couldn’t enter the website at all.

“In my case, I couldn’t even log in,” Leiss told The US Sun.

READ MORE ON TICKETMASTER

“It said there was no account associated with my email address, even though it was the email address that the order confirmation and mobile tickets were sent to and the email address to that I received my presale confirmation code.”

She then went to her email account and found that she was unable to download the tickets from her previous confirmation message.

“I was also unable to download my mobile tickets from the original order confirmation email because I received a “page not found” error message when I clicked on the link to download the tickets.”

She then attempted to contact Ticketmaster but had difficulty reaching the company.

“I tried calling customer service three times, was put on hold and never contacted again,” Leiss said.

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“I then tried to call the fraud department and was on hold for 15 minutes before being asked to leave a voicemail.”

Leiss said she also filled out an email form but couldn’t chat with a Ticketmaster representative online because she didn’t have access to her account.

When she finally gained access to the company, an employee told her there was no record of an account linked to her email address.

She gave the team her order number and they couldn’t find her tickets – resulting in the matter being escalated to the fraud team.

Ticketmaster data breach

In the summer of 2024, more than 500 million Ticketmaster customers were reportedly victims of a data breach.

  • In June 2024, Ticketmaster notified users of a data breach that resulted in the loss of 560 million user data.
  • The company told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that “a criminal threat actor” had offered to sell user information on the dark web.
  • Before the official announcement on May 28, the hacker group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility.
  • ShinyHunters is an international cyber threat group that claims to have attacked major companies such as Microsoft and AT&T.
  • The group demanded $500,000 for Ticketmaster’s 1.3 TB of customer information, including addresses, phone numbers and credit card details.
  • Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Entertainment, confirmed that the data breach resulted from unauthorized access to a third-party cloud storage platform.
  • Although Live Entertainment did not specify which third-party database leaked the information, it is speculated that AI cloud database platform Snowflake was compromised.

The company told her it could take a while to investigate the issue, but Leiss acted quickly as time was ticking before the upcoming show.

She filed her complaint with X, where a Ticketmaster representative informed her of another email attached to her order number.

Leiss’ tickets had been transferred to an unknown person.

“My account has been hacked,” Leiss wrote in a panicked message to Ticketmaster.

“This is not an email address I use and I have never transferred or agreed to transfer my tickets.”

“Please get my tickets back!!!” she pleaded with the company.

KARMA COMES BACK

This isn’t the first time tickets have disappeared from Swifties’ accounts recently.

Several fans had their tickets taken away without warning in what WPEC, a CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, described as ticket takeovers.

Leiss said she has seen other similar stories online where people reported their tickets were transferred from their accounts.

After raising the issue online and leaving another voicemail, Leiss finally got her tickets back.

Full statement from Ticketmaster

A Ticketmaster spokesperson shared the following statement with The US Sun regarding the Leiss incident:

“Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have significantly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs,” Ticketmaster said.

“Thanks to this digital history, we are also able to investigate the situation and restore fans’ tickets.”

“The best way for fans to protect themselves is to set a strong, unique password for all accounts – especially their personal email addresses, which we often see create security issues.”

“Scammers are looking for new scammers in every industry and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable. That’s why Ticketmaster continues to invest in new security improvements to keep fans safe.”

With the concert just a few weeks away, Leiss is now relieved that the issue has been resolved, as she said she “really only looked for my tickets a few days before the concert.”

Ticketmaster told The US Sun that because of the security measures built into mobile tickets, the company is typically able to restore almost all tickets.

“Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have significantly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs,” said a Ticketmaster spokesperson.

“Thanks to this digital history, we are also able to investigate the situation and restore fans’ tickets.”

FROM THE SAFE

Leiss’s frightening account came about after the data of over 500 million Ticketmaster customers was reportedly stolen earlier this year.

Ticketmaster claimed that the data breach was not a hack and that no passwords were exposed in the incident.

Customers have been warned to check their accounts as personal information has been stolen.

Ticketmaster said the best way to protect against fraud is to set strong, unique passwords for their accounts, “particularly for their personal email addresses, which we often see create security issues,” the spokesperson added added.

The company said Ticketmaster “continuously invests in new ways” to protect fans and their tickets.

Over 500 million Ticketmaster customers were affected by a data breach earlier this year (archive image)

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Over 500 million Ticketmaster customers were affected by a data breach earlier this year (archive image)Photo credit: Getty
Taylor Swift outside Electric Lady Studios in New York City on September 12, 2024

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Taylor Swift outside Electric Lady Studios in New York City on September 12, 2024Photo credit: Getty

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