Ticketmaster wants to reassure ticket holders for the Taylor Swift Eras tour in three cities, including New Orleans, of the security of their tickets after a hacker group claimed on Friday to have leaked barcodes of 166,000 tickets.
The hacking group, known as “Sp1d3rHunters,” made the claim on an online forum for buying and selling stolen data. The group provided instructions for downloading allegedly stolen barcodes, including for 40,000 tickets to three concerts in October at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Ticketmaster admitted in May that its user data had been stolen from a database provider, but on Friday the company quickly responded by refuting claims that barcodes had been leaked, calling it an impossible feat.
“Ticketmaster’s SafeTix technology protects tickets by automatically updating a new and unique barcode every few seconds so it cannot be stolen or copied. This is just one of many fraud protection measures we implement to ensure ticket security,” the company said in a statement.
In addition, the hacker group apparently mixed up the tour dates by offering stolen tickets for three concerts in New Orleans from October 26 to 28. Swift is scheduled to play there from October 25 to 27. The group also offered stolen tickets for concerts in Indianapolis and Miami.
In its post on Friday, the hacker group threatened to publish another 30 million barcodes and user data and demanded a ransom of two million dollars.
In May, Ticketmaster admitted a breach after a group with a similar but different name claimed to have stolen identification and contact information from 560 million Ticketmaster customers.
