Ticketmaster Hacked: What You Need To Know

The Facts:

Over 560 million Ticketmaster users were exposed on May 28, 2024. The data was advertised on the dark web for $500,000 and included customer names, addresses, emails, phone numbers and credit card details.

In a filing with the SEC, Live Nation said on May 20th it identified “unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing Company data (primarily from its Ticketmaster L.L.C. subsidiary)” and launched an investigation.

Live Nation’s investigation found that the data was for sale on the dark web, the secret place on the internet where criminals buy and sell illegally obtained consumer information.

Assume the worst:

I think it is safe to assume that your information has been exposed from at least one of the big data breaches in recent months such as Change Healthcare, AT&T and now Ticketmaster.

What about the kids?

It’s very likely that your teenage kids purchased concert or other event tickets through Ticketmaster. Since names and emails were stolen, we recommend you take this opportunity to inform your kids about phishing scams.

The goal of phishing is to obtain sensitive information such as login credentials, financial information, or other confidential data. It can be difficult to spot, as attackers are constantly evolving their methods to appear more credible. However, there are some common red flags that can indicate a phishing attack:

• Teach your child to be suspicious of unsolicited emails, even if they appear to come from a trusted source. If an email looks fishy, encourage them to forward it to you or another adult for further examination.

• Explain that phishers may try to trick people into revealing personal information by posing as a legitimate company or organization. Help your child identify red flags that may indicate a phishing email, such as misspellings, grammatical errors, and unexpected requests for personal information.

• Remind your child that they should never click on links or attachments in an email from someone they don’t know. Encourage them to hover over links to see where they will really take them before clicking.

• Teach your child to be cautious when using social media. Remind them not to accept friend requests from people they don’t know and to be careful about what information they share online.

Protecting yourself and your family members after a data breach:

• Check with the vendor. Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what happened, and take advantage of the free ID theft protection. 

• Change your password. You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. I recommend a password manager to keep your accounts safe.

• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA). this step adds a secondary form of validation, typically through a one-time code provided by a text or phone call or through an app

• Watch out for fake vendors. The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims, and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you.

• Beware of Phishing scams. Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.

• Consider not storing your card details. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.

• Scan for your exposed personal information on our website www.idprotectionkit.com. While the Ticketmaster data is yet to be published in full, it’s likely you’ve had other personal information exposed online in previous data breaches.  You can check what personal information of yours has been exposed with our free email scan.