NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Sports fans and concert-goers beware. In early July, Ticketmaster notified customers that some may have been impacted by a company cloud database breach.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) shared with NewsNation affiliate WKRN some steps that you should take if you receive a notification from Ticketmaster.
Although a notice to customers said the breach happened sometime between April and May 2024, BBB CEO and President Robyn Householder warned that customers who bought tickets well outside those dates could be impacted.
“Anytime there’s a data breach, especially with an organization like Ticketmaster, you’re talking about tens of thousands potentially,” Householder said.
Although the reach may sound alarming, Householder said that there are steps you can take to manage the situation.
The first step: look over your banking information right away. If you notice any unauthorized activity, or if you are notified by Ticketmaster that your information may have been compromised, Householder said that you should contact your credit and debit card companies.
“Contact your bank right away, Householder said. “They’ll be happy to send you a new card with a new expiration date, even new endings to those digits.”
Updating your passwords is the second step you should take. Gone are the days of short, easy-to-remember passwords, BBB experts said. To keep yourself safe, your password should be at least 14 digits long with a mix of numbers, letters and special characters.
“Sadly, scammers are notorious for selling information, so once they do have your data it’s not uncommon for that information to show up on the dark web and other scammers potentially have access to it,” Householder said. “That’s why it’s so important for you to change those passwords on a regular basis.”
Another important step: check your credit report through a service like freecreditreport.com or annualcreditreport.com. If you notice anything off, you he said that you should notify all three major credit reporting agencies.
Householder also recommended freezing your account any time your information may have been hacked.
“One of the most important steps is to freeze your credit for a short period of time, just to be sure that if anybody does have your private information, they’re not able to open up any other lines of credit in your name that you’re potentially stuck with paying off,” Householder said.
Freezing your account can also alert you if someone does try to access your credit. Ticketmaster has offered customers free one free year of an identity-monitoring service. For more information click here.
You can also report scams to the Better Business Bureau and find additional resources here.