Sports fans in Wisconsin have reported their season tickets being stolen by scammers. These scammers access a season ticket holder’s account, fraudulently transfer the tickets to another account, and leave the rightful owner with no sign of the theft until they log in to their ticket account to access their tickets and notice they are missing.
Season ticket theft is not common, but it does happen – especially as professional and college sports seasons begin. Season ticket holders can protect their accounts and reduce their risk of ticket theft by:
- Keeping passwords private. Never share passwords with individuals they don’t know and trust.
- Recognizing phishing scams. Learn the telltale signs of phishing scams. Some signs include urgent requests, unprompted solicitations to “update” or “confirm” an account, or poor spelling and grammar.
- Tip: Do not respond, click links, open attachments, or use contact information included in unsolicited and unverified emails or text messages. Learn more from the Phishing factsheet at: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/
Publications/Phishing402.aspx
- Tip: Do not respond, click links, open attachments, or use contact information included in unsolicited and unverified emails or text messages. Learn more from the Phishing factsheet at: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/
- Using unique passwords. Use a different password for each account. Passwords should be long and strong; consider using a passphrase or a password with more than eight characters containing a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols.
- Setting up multi-factor authentication (MFA). Accounts are more secure when using two layers of authentication, often in the form of a text message, phone call, or email that provides an additional verification code which must be entered to access an account.
If a season ticket holder believes their tickets have been stolen by a scammer, they should:
- Contact the original ticket seller from whom they purchased the tickets immediately using verified contact information.
- File a consumer complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
- Change account passwords, especially if the compromised password is also used for other accounts.
For more information and consumer protection resources or to file a complaint, visit DATCP’s Consumer Protection webpage at ConsumerProtection.wi.gov or contact the Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 422-7128 or DATCPHotline@wisconsin.gov.
