Taylor Swift fan gutted as Edinburgh tickets disappear from Ticketmaster account

A young Taylor Swift fan has been left heartbroken after her Edinburgh tickets 'disappeared' from her mum's Ticketmaster account.

Ashley Farren, from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire, had bought the tickets for her daughter Freyah through a friend as a special gift for the youngster. The excited pair had everything picked out for the 'once in a lifetime' show. As reported by Glasgow Live, the mum had even purchased a Swiftie-inspired outfit for the 10-year-old.

However, Ashley says she was horrified to check her Ticketmaster account on Tuesday to find the app showing her tickets as 'sold' - even though she hadn't. The worried mum is anxious following reports of a Ticketmaster data breach last week, with an estimated 560 million users affected, and hopes her tickets can still be used this weekend.

Ashley said: "Since the data breach I've been checking Ticketmaster everyday to check the tickets were still there. Everything was fine until I tried to check yesterday. When I went to log in there was a problem. It wouldn't let me in and then it kind of glitched and logged in. My heart sank when it did.

"The tickets were just coming up saying they had been sold and it didn't give me any information on where they had gone or what had happened. There was nothing in my email to say that they had been sold or anything. I've tried to raise the issue with Ticketmaster but all I've had back is automated replies and its been over 24 hours. The concert is on Saturday so it has been a very stressful and upsetting time. It could be past the concert before we hear back."

Ashley is worried that on top of Freyah missing the show, she faces losing more than £600 spent on a dream trip including travel, tickets and a hotel room in Edinburgh. The mum paid around £140 for tickets from Ticketmaster including fees. However, tickets for the sold out event at Murrayfield have since soared on re-sale websites to nearly £3,000.

She continued: "My daughter is the biggest Taylor Swift fan. She has been in tears since I told her. Her wee face is breaking my heart. This has been something that she has been looking forward to for a long time so it's difficult. It was meant to be such a special day out for her. I've organised the concert, travel, hotel in Edinburgh and a lot of little things for her on the day.

"But now it looks like everything was for nothing. I've spent more than it would cost for a holiday on this. For everything it's well over £600. At this point I'm not even hopeful that we will get them back or see any of the money again. It's not even like we could buy more because they are so extortionate now. We're gutted. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Several Taylor Swift fans have reported similar issues with tickets on social media, however it is not yet clear whether Ashley's tickets will be accepted at the Murrayfield show. Ticketmaster has been contacted for comment.

Ticketmaster owner Live Nation confirmed that it had been targeted by hackers who reportedly threatened to sell customer data on the dark web. Group ShinyHunters hacking group are rumoured to be demanding £400,000 to stop them from selling the information.

It is believed that the hackers gained access to personal details including names, addresses, phone numbers and limited payment information of an estimated 560 million users.

In a statement made to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, Live Nation said: "On May 20, 2024, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing Company data (primarily from its Ticketmaster L.L.C. subsidiary) and launched an investigation with industry-leading forensic investigators to understand what happened.

"On May 27, 2024, a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web. We are working to mitigate risk to our users and the Company, and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement. As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorised access to personal information.

"As of the date of this filing, the incident has not had, and we do not believe it is reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our overall business operations or on our financial condition or results of operations. We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing."

It is understood that US, UK and Australian authorities are investigating the breach.

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