Fans who tried to purchase tickets to J-Pop duo Yoasobi's concert in Singapore faced more than long queues and website crashes.
They were shocked to find that they could access Ticketmaster accounts that belonged to other people, allowing them to see personal information such as full names and email addresses.
They could even access tickets that were bought for other concerts, which could then be printed at home and used fraudulently.
Able to see other people's ticket purchases
Yoasobi is set to perform in Singapore on Jan. 11, 2024, at Resorts World Sentosa.
Tickets for Yoasobi went live on Ticketmaster's website at 10am on Dec. 1.
A Mothership reader told us that during the checkout process , she noticed she was logged into a stranger's Ticketmaster account despite having logged into her own account before buying the tickets.
"I wanted just one Category 3 ticket and did the normal ticket category and seat selection, but afterwards the system loaded a bit and I saw my order in my tickets list but it was marked "Incomplete". so I clicked "Continue".
On the next page, the system showed that she had two tickets, leaving her confused as she only bought one.
When she decided to remove one of the tickets, she was redirected to the front page. There, she realised she was in someone else's account.
She tried to log into her own account to conduct the purchase but soon, she realised that the website kept redirecting her to a stranger's ticket reservation list or account.
This happened to her three times, and each time she could access an assortment of personal data -- names, email addresses, ticket orders, number of tickets bought, what show they were for.
This reader told Mothership that she could access someone else's tickets to Taylor Swift's 2024 Eras Tour concert in Singapore. She even saw the option to print the tickets in the person's account.
She was not alone in this experience. Her friend who faced the same issue could access tickets to Coldplay's concert in Singapore.
The entire experience felt "very unsafe", according to this reader.
"Luckily I only had one past purchase in my account (which has already been redeemed)," she said, adding that she is now more hesitant about purchasing things on Ticketmaster in light of this data breach.
Screenshot by Mothership reader
Other Mothership readers have come forward with their own experience, where one person was logged into eight different Ticketmaster accounts that were not theirs.
Stuck on the loading screen
On top of the account problems, some fans were stuck in the virtual queue and the site crashed numerous times.
Photo via Mothership reader
When a fan could not get tickets in Singapore, he tried his luck for Yoasobi's concert in Kuala Lumpur but was stuck in the virtual queue despite stating he was next in line.
Phot via Mothership reader
At 2pm on Dec. 1, Yoasobi announced that all tickets to their concert in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were sold out.
However, some fans said most tickets were sold out minutes after the sale began.
Screenshot via Yoasobi/Instagram
Fans express disappointment in comments
In the comment section of Anime Festival Asia's Instagram page, fans expressed their grievances with Ticketmaster's handling of the sale and how quickly the tickets sold out.
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via InstagramScreenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
Screenshot via Anime Festival Asia/Instagram
When we approached Ticketmaster for comment, it simply said:
"Data privacy is at the core of everything we do. A temporary issue on our website has been quickly identified and fixed. No sensitive information was shared."
Regarding the access to other customers' concert tickets, Mothership understands that while customers could see the concert tickets in the account, they were not downloadable.
Top photos via Mothership reader & Yoasobi/Instagram