J-pop duo Yoasobi fans’ phone numbers, e-mail addresses leaked online during Ticketmaster sale

Fans trying to buy tickets online on Dec 1 for J-pop duo Yoasobi’s debut concert in Singapore found themselves logged into other fans’ Ticketmaster online accounts when they tried to pay for their tickets.

They were directed to other buyers’ purchase carts on the check-out page, with the full names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of strangers fully visible. Some could even see other event and concert tickets that the account owners had bought previously.

The J-pop concert is scheduled to be held on Jan 11, 2024 at Resorts World Sentosa.

It was sold out within minutes after ticket sales started online at 10am on Dec 1. It is the duo’s first concert in Singapore.

Ticketmaster is the official ticketing agent for the concert.

An irate fan told The Straits Times that he was shocked when he wanted to pay for his tickets.

“I was stunned to see that my cart didn’t have the tickets I selected.

“It was only then that I realised the cart wasn’t mine, and the name, phone number and e-mail address were someone else’s,” said the fan, who asked to be identified by only his surname Leong.

“Some people might have accidentally paid for other people’s tickets as no one would expect their cart to contain someone else’s items,” added the 28-year-old, a teaching assistant at a local university.

More than 20 fans took to social media platform Reddit to air their frustrations about an hour after the sale started.

Reddit user tracyperry94 wrote: “When I proceeded to check out, I realised I was paying for someone else. The information of the payee was leaked (such as e-mail address, contact details).

“As I refreshed and moved back into the ‘My Tickets’ page, I found myself in another person’s ticket page.”

The Reddit user added: “I had access to (other fans’) ticket information and I could even print their Taylor Swift Eras tour tickets. It’s ridiculous that there is even such a glitch.

“In the end, I couldn’t even reach my own checkout the entire time, and my tickets were deleted by others, and (the) concert was sold out by then.”

Many users urged those affected to report to the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) Singapore.

A fan who wanted to be known only as Mr Cai told ST that he had made a report to PDPC as he was logged into another person’s account during the sale. The 33-year-old said he lost his seat tickets due to the glitch.

Another fan, a 40-year-old who asked to be known as Mr Chew, found out that his personal details were leaked only hours after the sale when another fan who saw his details contacted him over the phone. He was worried that those who were able to access other fans’ accounts may print out and use concert tickets that do not belong to them.

“(Ticketmaster) should be taken to task.

“There should be a way to verify the ownership of the tickets so that those who print out tickets that aren’t theirs won’t be able to enter the concert,” he told ST, adding that he was not logged into anyone else’s account.

He said: “Although I’m disappointed in Ticketmaster, (it is) one of the few authorised ticket sellers for such events.”

When contacted, Ticketmaster said no sensitive information was shared.

“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,” said a Ticketmaster spokesperson in an e-mail.

Ticketmaster did not answer ST’s questions on the number of people affected by the incident and what caused the glitch.

A PDPC spokesperson told ST: “PDPC is aware of the incident and is currently investigating.”

Yoasobi is made up of vocalist Ikura, 23, and composer Ayase, 29. They are best known for producing the hit song Idol, which serves as the theme song to the anime Oshi No Ko.

Aside from Singapore, Yoasobi will also be playing sold-out shows in Seoul and Taipei before moving on to other South-east Asian cities like Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.