Ticketmaster is abandoning Taylor Swift fans who had their expensive tickets only to see the pop icon stolen from their accounts by scammers.
Prospective concertgoers who have had their accounts hacked and tickets stolen are coming forward to blame Ticketmaster for poor security and a slow response to the crime.
Blaine Heck, 36, told DailyMail.com that she received $3,500 worth of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans as a birthday gift, but discovered that fraudsters had broken into her online account this week and transferred them.
She said she immediately contacted Ticketmaster, who told her that “it could take up to a week to resolve the issue – with no guarantees.”
Prospective concertgoers who had their Ticketmaster accounts hacked and Taylor Swift tickets stolen are coming forward to blame the company for poor security and a slow response
“This situation has left me incredibly frustrated, and after speaking with others, I realized this happens far too often, especially as we approach Taylor’s upcoming US tour dates,” she explained.
Heck, from Essex, Connecticut, added that Ticketmaster “did not appear to have sufficient security measures in place to prevent these types of account breaches and ticket thefts.”
She said she accepted the tickets on her account and learned via email that they had been transferred to another account the next day.
“Given the high stakes surrounding major events like this, it feels like stronger digital ticketing policies and enhanced security measures are needed to protect customers,” she continued.
‘I did my duty by having different passwords, I changed them often, Ticketmaster let me and so many others down.’
Heck, a publicist, said she contacted friends in the media industry and eventually returned the cards.
But she still won’t leave Ticketmaster alone.
“I believe there are hundreds more who this is happening to and have to wait days, if not weeks, for Ticketmaster to even respond,” she said.
Savannah Van Skyhawk revealed that a scammer stole her tickets that she bought on Ticketmaster for WTHR
Heck shared her horror story less than a week after Savannah Van Skyhawk experienced the same problem with her Taylor Swift tickets.
After getting four tickets to see Swift wiped from her account, she immediately contacted Ticketmaster, but the company ghosted her after the initial conversation.
“They just told me, ‘We’ll call you in three to five days.’ So I waited three to five days, but they wouldn’t call me,” she said.
“I try to call them again and they say three to five days again. It was just kind of full circle, like no one has ever called me before.”
The company subsequently reinstated her tickets and account a media report about the dire situation, but did not explain how it happened.
“They just said that once I can access my account again, I need to change the email and password,” she said, WTHR reported.
“Fans should be aware that unauthorized ticket transfers are often the result of poor password management, such as using the same password on multiple websites,” the company told the outlet.
“Fans should use a strong, unique password for their Ticketmaster account, just as they would for a bank account.”
Daily Mail has contacted Ticketmaster for comment.