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Scammers are stealing tickets from Ticketmaster accounts

Imagine scoring hot concert or sports tickets, then getting locked out of your account by a scammer.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Savannah Van Skyhawk was excited to see Taylor Swift at Lucas Oil Stadium in November.

Then, her four tickets vanished from her account.

"[Scammers] took my tickets, transferred them elsewhere, and then I couldn't get back into my to my Ticketmaster account," she said.

Van Skyhawk bought the lower-level tickets more than a year ago, one of the lucky ones paying face value.

"We paid about $300 per ticket, and I've seen resale value of between like four or five grand per ticket. So we weren't going to be able to afford another ticket if we didn't get these ones back," Van Skyhawk said.

Credit: WTHR
Savannah Van Skyhawk talks with 13News reporter Allison Gormly about her stolen concert tickets.

Immediately after discovering she was locked out of her account, Van Skyhawk said she reached out to Ticketmaster multiple times for close to three weeks.   

"They would just tell me like, 'We'd call you in three to five days.' So, I'd wait three to five days, and they wouldn't call me," she said. "I try calling them again, and then again, they'd say three to five days. It was just kind of a circle, like no one ever called me."

Someone also appeared to post her tickets on a resale site.   

"The same section, the same row, but it didn't list the seat number. But what are the odds?" Van Skyhawk said.

RELATED: Yes, the Ticketmaster data breach email is real

When 13News contacted Ticketmaster on her behalf, the company restored Van Skyhawk's account and tickets the same day.   

"They didn't explain how it happened," she said, "They just said once I'm back into my account, to change the email and change the password."

Reddit users reported similar fraud issues posting, "just got my tickets stolen for Kacey Musgraves in Nov.."

Another person posted someone "just stole 800 dollars worth of Seahawks tickets from me. I am in disbelief."  

Some users reported positive resolutions. Others did not.

RELATED: Watch out for this Taylor Swift ticket scam on social media

While Ticketmaster notified customers of a security incident over the summer, it is worth noting some of those Reddit threads about missing tickets date back two years.

Ticketmaster told 13News:

"We're happy we were able to help Ms. Van Skyhawk get her tickets back. Fans should be aware unauthorized ticket transfers are often a result of poor password management, like using the same password across multiple websites. Fans should use a strong unique password for their Ticketmaster account, as they would a bank account.”

Van Skyhawk is relieved her tickets are safe and sound and is excited to see sparks fly in a few weeks. 

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