With the Eras tour finally coming to Toronto next month and every street in town set to become Taylor Swift Way, Ticketmaster has introduced new rules for ticket transfers amid an increase in reported scams and cyber thefts.
As the Canadian Press reports, Swifties could previously transfer tickets from one account to another at any time, but are now only able to do so within the 72 hours leading up to the concert. Representatives for Ticketmaster have confirmed the rule change but did not respond to any questions regarding the reason for its implementation.
Probably not coincidentally, it follows an upswell in reported Ticketmaster account hacks that have affected the pop star's Canadian fans. Some customers have taken to social media to report that the concert tickets they had purchased months ago had, without their authorization, been suddenly transferred from their accounts to email addresses they were unfamiliar with [via the Toronto Star].
In a statement, Ticketmaster said it is working to "restore fans' tickets," instructing accountholders that the best way to protect themselves is "setting a strong unique password."
"Scammers are looking for new cheats across every industry, and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable, so Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security enhancements to safeguard fans," the statement continued. The company informed users back in July that it had experienced a data breach, with customers' private account information — including home addresses and credit card numbers — having potentially been compromised.