Ticketmaster refutes claims of Taylor Swift tickets stolen by hackers

Ticketmaster has responded to allegations from hackers claiming to have stolen ticket barcodes for upcoming Taylor Swift concerts, asserting that their systems remain secure. 

The concert promoter reassured CyberRisk Alliance that their systems are protected and the risk of stolen or counterfeit tickets is negligible.

“Ticketmaster’s SafeTix technology protects tickets by automatically refreshing a new and unique barcode every few seconds so it cannot be stolen or copied,” stated Ticketmaster. “This is just one of many fraud protections we implement to keep tickets safe and secure.”

These statements follow a claim from the H4KMANAC account on Twitter (now known as X), which alleged that hackers had breached Ticketmaster's system, obtaining 170,000 barcodes for Taylor Swift concerts. The account further claimed that the hackers possessed millions of other barcodes, which they intended to sell for $2 million.

Ticketmaster emphasized to CyberRisk Alliance that they have not and will not engage in ransom negotiations. “Some outlets are inaccurately reporting about a ransom offer,” Ticketmaster clarified. “We were never engaged for a ransom and did not offer them money.”

In a related development, 404 Media reported on a legal case in California involving AXS and a group of scalpers. The lawsuit alleges that resellers tampered with Ticketmaster's barcode system to bypass protections, allowing unauthorized resales on their own platforms without Ticketmaster or AXS oversight.