ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – First Alert 4 Investigates gets results for a local music fan after her concert tickets mysteriously disappear from her account – along with the thousands of dollars she paid. She had been looking forward to seeing Usher, who performs at the Enterprise Center on Friday and Saturday nights this weekend.

After weeks of getting nowhere with Ticketmaster, she turned to lead researcher Lauren Trager, who discovered this is happening nationwide.

“I’ve loved him for a long time,” Erin Owens said.

Owens jumped at the chance to see Usher in St. Louis: four tickets, purchased in March, for a total of $2,500. She planned to bring her favorite people.

“As a little hurray, just to thank everyone, to show them how much I appreciate them for their help,” Owens said.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…

“I went to my Ticketmaster account and saw my tickets were gone,” she said.

They had been debited from her account by a scammer.

CBS stations across the country have heard from viewers. A woman in Austin, Texas, was unable to see Usher after her tickets were stolen.

Others in Philadelphia have lost tickets to concerts and sports games.

“Tickets are certainly a valuable commodity these days. It’s one of those things: now we don’t carry them in our pockets anymore, so it’s all online, on computers and devices. It is very easy for anyone anywhere in the world to access your Ticketmaster account and transfer your tickets,” said Scott Granneman, a local cybersecurity expert.

He said that while Ticketmaster had a data breach earlier this year, this situation appears to be more related to people using less secure passwords.

“There are indications that it is not a hack of Ticketmaster itself. Instead, many people’s Ticketmaster accounts are being compromised because thieves have found a new way to make money,” Granneman said.

Granneman added that Ticketmaster, like other companies, balances security with its services.

“On the one hand, people complain about not being asked about security, but on the other hand, they complain about being asked too much. So it is a difficult task for every company, including Ticketmaster,” says Granneman.

“It’s one of those things you never thought could actually happen to you, but it did,” Owens said.

Owens told First Alert 4 Investigates she was devastated and in disbelief.

“I actually don’t want my money back. I want my tickets,” she said.

Her pleas to Ticketmaster, she said, had gone unanswered.

“I don’t necessarily know how it works, but I wish they did more to help,” she said.

First Alert 4 Investigates contacted Ticketmaster on her behalf. After several inquiries, Ticketmaster sent a statement:

“Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have dramatically reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicate PDFs. This digital history also allows us to investigate the situation and restore fans’ tickets.”

The company further stated that it is “continually investing in new security enhancements to protect fans.”

Owens said she hopes Ticketmaster will do the right thing.

“Heck, maybe you can even upgrade me!” Gee, that would be nice, they put me there next to Usher. I’m on stage!” she joked.

After we contacted Ticketmaster, Owens was refunded two of the four tickets. So we went back with Ticketmaster representatives.

On Tuesday afternoon, First Alert 4 Investigates received an update from Erin: “The process of getting the second half of the tickets was also a bit difficult. Again, I don’t think I would have gotten the second half without Lauren, but I’m glad and grateful that I got all four tickets. Definitely a stressful process, but we got them, and I’m excited for the concert on Friday!”

Owens had a confession: her password wasn’t as strong as it could have been, but she’s now changed it.

Granneman advises that each of your accounts should have a unique and long password, and that using a password manager is essential. If you have an Apple phone, you already have one, and it’s free.

More information can be found here.

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