Aussie music fan issues grave Ticketek warning after she was ‘scammed’ out of Olivia Rodrigo tickets just days before the concert

An Australian music fan is left heartbroken after discovering her Olivia Rodrigo tickets had been ‘resold’ by scammers just days before the concert.

Hayley Flude, 23, said she bought tickets to the pop superstar’s Sydney show in May as part of the Australian leg of her GUTS tour, which is now sold out.

Ms. Flude said she first realized her account had been hacked this week when she received an email from Ticketek Marketplace confirming an advertisement. The Marketplace feature allows users to resell tickets if, for example, they can no longer attend a show.

Despite immediately trying to log into her Ticketek account to check why her tickets were listed without her permission, she said the website forced her to wait.

“I couldn’t go to Marketplace to remove them before they sold because there is a virtual queue that takes several minutes to get into the site,” Ms Flude told Daily Mail Australia.

When she finally logged in, she discovered that her email address and phone number had been changed by one character, and her banking information had been changed to an account controlled by the hacker.

“I had two tickets that cost over $200 each and the only way to get more is to refresh Marketplace all day hoping you’ll be the first to click on a new ad,” the music fan said.

Other Ticketek customers have complained about the same problem after a cyber breach earlier this year in which the personal data of millions of customers was stolen.

The Good 4 U hitmaker is in Australia for the first time, playing a series of shows in Melbourne and Sydney (Photo: Olivia Rodrigo performing in California)

Others have pointed out that tickets can be sold through the Marketplace feature without two-factor authentication – a second layer of security, such as sending a PIN to the account holder’s phone to authorize the sale.

“While they claim no Ticketek customer accounts have been compromised, there is no other way for the hacker to get into my account,” Ms. Flude claimed.

‘There is also no 2FA when logging in or changing user details or bank details. I feel deeply disappointed and frustrated with Ticketek due to the lack of safety measures.”

In response to the breach, Ticketek said it had “become aware of a cyber incident impacting Ticketek Australia account holders’ information, which is stored on a cloud-based platform hosted by a reputable global third-party provider.”

It said customers’ names, dates of birth and email addresses may have been affected, but assured customers that Ticketek has secure encryption methods for all passwords and that no Ticketek customer account has been compromised.

‘In addition, Ticketek uses secure encryption methods for online payments and uses a separate system to process online payments, which has not been affected. Ticketek does not have identity documents of its customers,” the company said.

The international GUTS tour marks Olivia Rodrigo’s first shows in Australia since the release of her debut album in 2021.

Ms Flude (pictured) said she first realized her account had been hacked this week when she received an email from Ticketek Marketplace confirming a list of her tickets

Ticketek revealed earlier this year that there had been a cyber breach, but said the accounts were safe

The Grammy winner performed at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night and has a further three shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

The pop star will then travel to Sydney for four shows at Qudos Bank Arena on October 17, 18, 21 and 22.

Ticketek told Daily Mail Australia that “Australia is currently a global hotspot for account phishing and scams across all e-commerce businesses.”

“Ticketek is aware of unauthorized access to individual accounts via credentials stolen as a result of other third-party data breaches,” a spokesperson said.

“We would also like to reiterate that Ticketek’s accounts or individual data have not been compromised.

“In the best interests of all our customers, we would like to remind fans to remain vigilant by changing or updating their passwords to protect their interests.

“If customers believe they have stolen or misappropriated property and that the resale of their tickets was fraudulent, customers should immediately report it to the police and contact Ticketek Customer Service so we can initiate an investigation.

‘If the original ticket holder can demonstrate that: they originally purchased the tickets, their data was legitimately compromised; and the sale was fraudulent; Ticketek will solve the problem together with the customer.’