Special Reports

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Spending big money for concert tickets is a serious splurge these days. And more people are buying them online, sometimes from re-sellers. But how do you know they're authentic? CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports on what happened when one Taylor Swift fan ran into Ticket Trouble.

When tickets to concerts and sporting events are sold out, many people turn to websites where you can buy tickets on the secondary market from resellers. But some people who thought they had tickets for a recent Taylor Swift concert found themselves locked out.

Samantha Yoo was watching an online clip of the Taylor Swift concert Saturday night, but it was no substitute for seeing her favorite singer live.

"I can only imagine what it would be like to actually be there," Samantha said.

Samantha should have been at the concert, as part of her 16th birthday celebration, with three friends.

She had searched for available seats on the 'TicketsNow' website which re-sells tickets for its corporate owner, Ticketmaster.

The connection to Ticketmaster and the 100 percent guarantee that its tickets are authentic gave her father Sam Yoo comfort that the $500 purchase of four tickets was safe.

Now, Sam says, "We were obviously misled."

After he dropped his excited daughter and her friends off at the Allstate Arena Saturday night, their tickets were rejected at the turnstile. Samantha remembers that moment.

"I was so upset. I just kept saying to them over and over, 'you've got to be joking,'" Samantha said.

Her father was furious, and he was not alone.

"When we went into the box office, there was a whole room full of people in hysteria," said father Sam Yoo.

All of them were given a statement saying they had "voided tickets" purchased from Ticketmaster "through fraudulent means."

"We didn't do anything wrong," Sam said.

Spokeswomen for TicketsNow and Ticketmaster say it was the original buyer of the Taylor Swift tickets who either used a bad credit card or purchased more than the allowed quota of tickets.

Sam Yoo says he paid more for the tickets to avoid any problems.

"The reason that we were paying extra for these tickets were because they guarantee that these tickets were going to be good. They weren't," Sam said.

He says what makes it worse is that, "We purchased these tickets three months ago. Somebody could have let us know what was going on. Nobody did."

The CBS 2 investigation found that TicketsNow has previously had problems with the Illinois Attorney General's office for misleading consumers.

Without admitting any guilt, the company settled deceptive practices complaints for allegedly confusing consumers as to the source of the tickets being sold, and inducing consumers to pay more than face value for events tickets.

The company paid a $50,000 fine and agreed to change their practices.

Now Sam Yoo says the proper authorities need to step back in.

"So that this doesn't happen again to other people. It's not right," Sam said.

Daughter Samantha just says, "More than anything, I'm disappointed. Really disappointed."

After CBS 2's inquiry, TicketsNow gave the Yoo family a full refund, as well as others who placed three other orders for the Swift concert.

A company spokesperson said this is in line with its standard refund policy. She said the company takes issues of fraud seriously, and has also suspended the original buyer from getting future tickets.

The Attorney General's office is looking into the current problems with TicketsNow. The company currently has a "C" rating from the Better Business Bureau and could lose its accreditation if their service doesn't improve.

Consumers who believe they have been cheated by any online ticket vendor should contact the Attorney General's Consumer Fraud hotline at 1-800-386-5438 to report the incident and file a complaint.

You can also download a complaint form by clicking here.

Tips on how to avoid consumer fraud:

- If you're dealing with a ticket broker, make cure the broker is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers.

- You can also check if the broker is a member of the Better Business Bureau.

- Illinois ticket brokers must be registered with the Illinois Secretary of State's Index Department in Springfield.

- Avoid paying cash for tickets in person from a stranger. The tickets may be counterfeit.

- Never wire a payment to a seller who promises to send the tickets after the money is received. In many cases, you will end up being a victim of fraud.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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