Ticketmaster barcodes posted online: Hackers steal 170,000 Taylor Swift tickets

A cyber attack on US concert ticket seller Ticketmaster was reported at the beginning of June. The hacker group “ShinyHunters” had offered the data of 560 million customers for sale on the dark web. This included names, addresses and credit card information. The group demanded a payment of $500,000 (460,000 euros).

Now a new blow for the concert giant and especially its customers! Apparently one of the hackers has leaked around 170,000 barcodes in relevant forums that allow entry to various Taylor Swift concerts to enable, reports “Heise.de“.

The posted barcodes contain data about the concerts, such as seating information, the hall sector and the purchase value. Tickets can be created from this. The hacker even explained how the data can be converted into a scannable (QR) code.

Furthermore, the hacker Ticketmaster threatened to release tickets from further events if the company did not pay two million US dollars.

39,000 tickets for mega concerts

And: according to Insider magazine “Bleeping computer” 39,000 “print-at-home” tickets have been released for around 150 upcoming concerts and events, including those from bands such as Metallica, Pink, Pearl Jam, Phish, Foo Fighters and also major sporting events.

The concert giant tried to reassure its customers and announced that its own anti-fraud measures were working. This means that thanks to a specific technology, new barcodes are automatically generated every few seconds so that stolen tickets cannot be used.

Not true, say the Cyber criminalsThe ticket database contains both online and physical tickets. And with these “print-at-home” tickets, the barcodes cannot be renewed by the security system. Ticketmaster has not yet commented on this.

Ticketmaster has been criticized in the USA for decades because of extremely high service fees and ticket costs.