Happy ending for sisters after their stolen Taylor Swift Toronto concert tickets were returned

Two sisters who love Taylor Swift will be in attendance at one of her upcoming sold-out shows at the Rogers Center after their stolen tickets were returned, Ticketmaster told CityNews on Friday.

Sisters Alicia and Gillian Gilby said their dreams of attending a Swift show were dashed when their second row tickets were somehow stolen from Gillian's online Ticketmaster account a few weeks ago.

“My sister probably called me around 11 p.m. at night and said, 'You're going to start crying.' You're going to be so upset, but my tickets were stolen.' I was just shocked, and she was shocked,” Gillian told CityNews on Thursday.

Gillian said she knew something was wrong after she received an email from Ticketmaster saying her tickets for the show had been transferred to someone she didn't know.

“I was really upset,” she said. “I cried a little. I felt guilty.”

She immediately contacted Ticketmaster.

“They had told us that they would refer this to what they called the fraud department and then we would get a response from the fraud department in about three to five business days.”

These three to five business days stretched over several weeks with no resolution.

That changed on Friday after Ticketmaster confirmed the return of the tickets on Gillian's online account.

“Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have significantly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs,” a Ticketmaster spokesperson told CityNews.

“Thanks to this digital history, we are also able to examine and successfully return tickets for fans.

“Fans can best protect themselves by setting a strong, unique password for all accounts – especially their personal email addresses, where we believe security issues often arise.”

The sisters weren't the only Swifties to report tickets disappearing into the online ether.

Several fans in the US also claim that their tickets were stolen directly from their accounts.

“Fraudsters are looking for new fraudsters in all industries and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable. That’s why Ticketmaster continues to invest in new security improvements to keep fans safe,” the Ticketmaster spokesperson added.

Ticketmaster added that it was a case of the sisters' tickets being stolen is not related to a data breach reported in July.

Cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak says these frustrating situations are why it's important for fans to monitor their accounts and use all available security tools.

In addition to monitoring your accounts, Kotak recommends changing passwords frequently, avoiding reusing old passwords, and always enabling multi-factor authentication.