LAFAYETTE PARISH — We have an update tonight for a Lafayette woman whose concert tickets were transferred to someone else without her permission.
When we spoke to her earlier this week, Holly Cheramie told us that the tickets she bought back in August for a Korn concert in Houston and vanished from her Ticketmaster account, and she wasn't able to get any assistance from the company.
We reached out to Ticketmaster, and they sent us a statement but then today they sent us a follow-up email saying they were able to "recover and restore" Cheramie's tickets.
We checked with Cheramie, and she said her tickets were back in her account.
Here's the statement Ticketmaster sent us about this situation - which is not uncommon:
"Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have greatly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicated PDFs. Having that digital history is also how we are able to investigate the situation and restore fans’ tickets. The top way fans can protect themselves is setting a strong unique password for all accounts – especially for their personal email which is where we often see security issues originate. Scammers are looking for new cheats across every industry, and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable, so Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security enhancements to safeguard fans."
Cheramie's not alone: Ticketmaster customers are reporting that their tickets have mysteriously disappeared or been transferred to other accounts without their consent.
She told us her concert tickets for an upcoming event were transferred to someone else without any notification.
“Somebody was just able to have my password, sign in, and transfer my ticket, and that was that,” Cheramie said. “I didn’t even get a text or anything.”
Cheramie bought five tickets in August for a Korn concert in Houston, Texas, with her boyfriend and friends. However, before they could make travel plans, the tickets vanished from her account.
“We bought our tickets in August but got a notification in September that our tickets were transferred to someone in California,” she said.
Cheramie is not alone. Reports have surfaced nationwide from customers claiming their Ticketmaster tickets have disappeared or reappeared for resale at inflated prices.
The surge in complaints comes a month after Ticketmaster experienced a major data breach, which some users suspect may be linked to the missing tickets. The company has not confirmed any connection between the breach and the recent transfers.
“There is a bit of a worry that my debit card information has been stolen along with my name and address,” Cheramie said, concerned about how easily her account was compromised.
When we first spoke to her, Ticketmaster had not provided an official response to Cheramie’s case. The only message she had received was a recommendation to change her password.
