Post Season Baseball Is Here - BUYER BEWARE OF SCAMMERS !

Post season baseball is here.

If you’re a fan of the Mets or Astros, condolences sent your way.

If you’re a fan of Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Guardians, Tigers, Mariners, Phillies, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Padres or Dodgers, congratulations on your team making it past Game162. Now, the fun really begins.

As the excitement of post season play builds, if you haven't already, many of you are hoping to purchase those much coveted post season digital tickets. Aside from purchasing from the team sites, many of you will also be looking to buy your tickets through various 3rd party sites.

At this point you may be aware of news regarding ticket scammers, or ‘Bad Actors”, hacking into the accounts of fans of the MLB Ballpark app, including yours truly. Reports of fans being scammed from their tickets have surfaced as far back as Labor Day Weekend and in particular from large markets such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

“Bad actors are stealing, reselling fan tickets swiped from MLB’s Ballpark app, MLB acknowledges.” 

The Athletic cited MLB about how fans are getting scammed with their valid tickets to enter the ballparks.

Major League Baseball though says it's not their fault. It's putting the blame on hacks of other online platforms, saying passwords from those apps were most likely used to break into people's MLB apps. The league released a written statement that reads in part:

"There is no evidence that this was a breach of the MLB system."

"There have been widespread reports of significant data breaches on other platforms. Bad actors then have utilized leaked or stolen credentials from other websites in efforts to access the accounts of MLB fans. We are working tirelessly to address this matter and protect our fans. We want all of our fans to have a great experience when they come to the ballpark and we are sorry that some fans have had to deal with an issue related to their tickets."

"Pretty much everyone under the sun has reused the same password on multiple accounts," said cybersecurity expert Anne Cutler, who works for Keeper Security. "So often, if a cybercriminal can find a password online for one account, they can try it against another account and that's how they get in."

Cutler says it's important for people using the Ballpark app to immediately change their password and create one that is unique, lengthy and complex.

But she is also pointing the finger at MLB, saying its password standards are outdated and don't even allow multi-factor authorization, or MFA.

"Users need to be able to have strong, unique passwords. Passkeys should be an option and strong forms of MFA should be available on every single app and website," Cutler said.” (ABC7.COM).

As for my previous experience, it stemmed from my purchase from StubHub, which fortunately, was able to be resolved.

So you want to see your favorite team in their chase toward Fall Classic glory? Here are some of my tips based upon my experience and other fans I spoke with as well:

• If possible, I highly recommend you purchase your tickets through the teams main ticketing site.

• If your purchase was directly from the team and your tickets have disappeared prior to and up to the date of game, call them directly and have your MLB Ballpark App account ready and if possible, the date you purchased your tickets and the seat locations.

• If you arrive at the venue and your tickets have disappeared, go directly to the nearest ticket office and have the information listed above ready. 

• Routinely check your app to see if your tickets are still there. There should be a barcode with your seat locations, date of game and your name.

• Though tedious, you may also want to routinely change the password on your MLB Ballpark app.

• If you should receive an email from MLB.Com Account Service to change your password due to unusual activity to your account, check your ballpark app as well to see if you're still in possession of your tickets. Should they be missing from your app, call the point of contact immediately, be it a 3rd party site or directly from the team.

• If attending the event with others, if possible, arrive at the event as one whole group rather than transferring or receiving transferred tickets. Though not a guarantee but if the tickets are purchased through the teams main site, this could avoid any further difficulties reclaiming and hopefully keeping all your tickets together.

If your purchase is from a 3rd party site, this is where it could be tricky. If your experience is anything like mine and other fans I spoke with, you’ll probably be told to contact the site of purchase. Should you decide to purchase your playoff tickets through a 3rd party site such as StubHub or SeatGeek, be sure that they have a FanProtect Guarantee. Again though not a guarantee, hopefully those issues can be resolved as well.

If you feel the need to contact the 3rd party site directly, here are some numbers…

• StubHub 1-888-720-9452

• SeatGeek 1-888-506-4101

• GameTime 1-888-355-0132

• TickPick 1-845-538-4567

These are just some tips to protect you from your post season ticket purchases and hopefully you will not fall victim to being scammed from your tickets. If you do become a victim, hopefully these tips will help you in retaining your tickets or being reissued other tickets without being charged extra. Also, if you have the time, contact  MLB Customer Support and make them aware of your experience. You can also contact MLB Customer Support directly at 1-866-244-2291 and make MLB aware of their negligence regarding this matter.

But remember, BUYER BEWARE.