The Jacksonville doctor says he lost over $4,000 to cyber thieves after his Ticketmaster account was hacked

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Imagine spending over $4,000 on front-row tickets to concerts and college football games, only to miss the events because you fell victim to cyber thieves.

This is the frustrating situation a local doctor is currently facing.

On May 31, Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, disclosed in an 8-K filing with the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission that it had discovered unauthorized activity involving Ticketmaster data approximately a week and a half earlier. According to AARP, a publicly traded company files an 8-K when an unexpected major event occurs that is of interest to shareholders and investors.

Jim Whited, a nurse in Jacksonville, told News4JAX that Ticketmaster still hasn't sorted out his situation, saying nearly three months after the theft he still hasn't been able to reach a person in Ticketmaster's fraud department .

“They ended up getting my front row tickets to see Alanis Morrisette, my front row tickets to see Jewel and Melissa Etheridge, and my front row tickets to see Jason Aldean in Georgia with VIP Meet -and-greets,” Jim Whited, a Ticketmaster customer, said. “They ended up getting my Alabama tickets, which go on sale November 5th.”

And what's more, Jim Whited told News4JAX ITEAM that cyber thieves bought tickets to the Jacksonville Jaguars and tickets to a Nicki Minaj concert after changing his login information on the Ticketmaster website. Whited said the thefts occurred in August and he still has not spoken to a Ticketmaster employee.

Related: Live Nation reveals data breach at its Ticketmaster subsidiary

“I called Ticketmaster 100 times,” Whited said. “I was left on hold for over four hours on three separate occasions. Now mind you, every time I talk to someone they tell me we'll get back to you. Someone from the fraud department will call you.”

Instead, Whited said he communicated with Ticketmaster's AI assistant. He shared his frustrating text exchange with the News4JAX ITEAM.

Ticketmaster Fan Support wrote: “Hello Jim, To best help you, please select one of the options below or click Back to view additional topics.”

Whited wrote: “My account was hacked and all my tickets were stolen.”

Ticketmaster Fan Support responded: “To best serve you, please select one of the options below or click Back.” What can I help you with?”

Whited responded, “I've been saying this for months and no one is helping me. My account was hacked due to your data breach and all my tickets were taken away.”

Whited did not respond, saying he felt hurt by Ticketmaster.

“I think you have to get this right,” Whited said. “I missed meeting Jewel. I missed meeting Jason Aldean. I missed sitting in the front row to see Alanis Morissette. I'm about to miss front row tickets to Alabama, and you've got to do better. You are the largest monopoly company when it comes to tickets, but you don't treat your customers with the same respect that you would want to be treated with as an industry leader. It’s despicable.”

We reached out to Ticketmaster and provided them with all of the information we published in this story and we received the response below.

Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have significantly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs. Thanks to this digital history, we are also able to investigate the situation and, in almost every case, restore fans' tickets. The best way for fans to protect themselves is to set a strong, unique password for all accounts – especially their personal email addresses, which we often see create security issues. Scammers are looking for new scammers in all industries, and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable. That's why Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security improvements to keep fans safe.

Ticketmaster spokesperson

Ticketmaster told News4JAX that Ticketmaster's passwords were not exposed in the data breach earlier this year and that fraudsters accessed a fan's email account.

Whited said he still hasn't received a response.

Another woman in Northeast Florida also contacted News4JAX after experiencing a similar problem.

Lisa Ann said she was part of this Ticketmaster data breach. She said she purchased more than $1,400 worth of concert tickets to attend a Morgan Wallen concert in Tampa, but when she checked her tickets, they had been transferred to someone else. Ann was also frustrated and had to work hard to regain what she had lost.

“I was able to contact the Better Business Bureau and get my refund back,” Lisa Ann said. “I ended up having to buy new tickets.”

Ticketmaster confirmed to USA Today that fans whose concert tickets disappeared from their accounts were victims of hackers.

“We are seeing fraudsters access a fan’s email account,” a Ticketmaster spokesperson told USA TODAY.

If you suspect fraud on your Ticketmaster or Live Nation account, Ticketmaster says you can contact them here.