Streisand Ticket Flap

Ticketmaster has voided more than 1,000 tickets purchased online for Barbra Streisand‘s upcoming fall tour because stolen credit card information was used to purchase them and some were posted for resale online.

“The ticket fraud was discovered through our normal fraud prevention procedures and affected tickets at a variety of prices for shows scheduled at different venues nationwide,” Ticketmaster President and COO Sean Moriarty told Pollstar. “The affected tickets were purchased with stolen credit card information from multiple credit card holders.”

Moriarty also said the company is working with law enforcement to track down the source of the fraud.

Concerts affected by the fraud are scheduled for NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, California’s HP Pavilion At San Jose, Florida’s BankAtlantic Center, Michigan’s The Palace Of Auburn Hills, Georgia’s Philips Arena, Illinois’ United Center, Caesar’s Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall in New Jersey, MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center.

A list of the voided ducats is available on Ticketmaster’s Web site, along with a warning that fans who buy tickets from a source besides a venue box office or Ticketmaster could be holding worthless paper.

It was unclear what sites had the voided tickets.

TicketNetwork CEO Don Vaccaro, whose sister company TicketLiquidator has Streisand tickets, said the situation emphasizes the risks of using online ticketing, especially with high-dollar events. He said secondary market ticket brokers like TicketLiquidator are not in danger of selling unauthorized tix.

“[Brokers will] verify the consumer’s address before they transmit the ticket to them,” Vaccaro told Pollstar. “We take enough precautions to make sure that [fraud] doesn’t happen because we can’t void them out, we can’t reissue them. If we get hit by credit card fraud, that’s it, it’s over.”

Streisand’s tour with Il Divo kicks off October 4th.

– Tina Amendola