7 On Your Side saves family's Green Day tickets after hacker stole them
WESTCHESTER COUNTY (WABC) -- A Westchester family waited months for a concert only to have their show passes hacked right out of their ticket app.
The show was a Green Day concert in Queens earlier this month.
But days before the concert, they had no ticket and no refunds, so they asked Nina Pineda and 7 On Your Side for help.
What happens is the tickets were there one minute and gone the next?
The twist is, that Ticketmaster was part of a big breach a few months ago, so that made customers wonder is that why getting help, led to nothing but roadblocks.
"I finally bought the ticket, I was like, 'I'm going!'" said Debra Cunningham, a Green Day superfan.
A lover of Green Day since middle school, Cunningham was finally going to see her favorite band live for the first time. She splurged more than $1,100 on four tickets at CitiField.
"They were good seats front row in that first section," she said.
Cunningham bought the seats back in November, but last month weeks before the August 5 concert, got a message her Ticketmaster app password was changed.
"That's when I logged in and was like, 'Oh my God,' and I couldn't click on it," she said.
Her account had been hacked. Cunningham was a basket case.
"It says your tickets have been claimed by 'and SF.' Is that even a real name? That was what I was saying, it's not even a real name," she said.
Fake name, true crime, a cybercriminal group claimed it stole the personal info of 500 million Ticketmaster customers. The company sent out letters in July warning of the breach which it said happened between April and May telling users to monitor their accounts and offering free credit monitoring.
The Cunninghams didn't know if the hack played a part, but when she and her family tried to get help for their missing tickets, they got none.
"They just kept telling me there was nothing they could do," Cunningham said.
To their surprise, they could see their stolen tickets for sale. Section 123 seat 912 row 1 was for sale on Ticketmaster!
"I was like there's no way you can't click something," Cunningham said.
7 On Your Side contacted the nation's largest ticket seller and 90 minutes later, her boulevard of broken dreams did a U-turn. Ticketmaster salvaged the stolen tickets just in time.
"Thank you 7 On Your Side!" Cunningham said.
Cunningham and her family got to see the Saviors Tour after all.
Ticketmaster sent 7 On Your Side a statement saying:
"We're happy to report we helped get Mrs. Cunningham's tickets back so she could take her family to the concert. At Ticketmaster, we take account security very seriously and employ advanced measures to help protect this fan's tickets. Our advice to her and other fans is to protect your account with a strong password that isn't used elsewhere, just as you would treat your bank account."
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