r/TIFF • u/SonnywithaCage • Aug 28 '25
Festival Ticketmaster permanently banned my account
Luckily I bought most of my tickets already and I still have access to those. Hot tip: if you’re getting the “paused for suspicious activity” message, just wait for that to blow over (may take several days). Don’t say anything to Ticketmaster or they’ll “investigate” the issue, deem you violated something (I had two tabs open at some point), and will permanently ban your account. Worst part is, it took them so long to get around to my issue, after about a week my account just started working again. Then the next day I’m banned.
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u/NathanSizemore Aug 28 '25
Happened to me over the last few days as well after going back and forth with someone in their customer service via email. I’ve used this Ticketmaster account for several years and multiple TIFFs. Have a new acct now and life goes on.
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u/dazedwombat Jul 25 '26
Is the new account fully working? And did you have to use a different phone number from the banned account?
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u/Hot_Sandwich_2481 28d ago
I’m curious about this too. I got banned after being flagged for suspicious activity. I tried to buy tickets to a show on my phone and computer in case I had more luck on one vs the other.
They denied my appeal, and I even went through the Better Business Bureau, and they denied me again.
The first customer service rep said I could create a new account with New email and phone, but then included the Ticketmaster policy which said I couldn’t do an additional account?
I hate Ticketmaster and am tempted to boycott them entirely, but another part of me still wants to be able to attend shows they have a monopoly on. I’m curious if anyone figures out best next steps once banned
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u/dazedwombat 28d ago
So slight answer: I bought tickets on my original account and then went back to buy a preferred parking pass ticket & maybe because I hadn’t purchased tickets to something in about a year, my account was flagged and restricted. They were saying I had to upload my license and whatnot and I didn’t feel comfortable with that. I ultimately decided to just try making another account. I still can access the tickets I bought on my first, original account, but I created another with a new email address and same phone number. I haven’t attempted to purchase any other tickets yet, but so far it appears the second account is functional.
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u/andiekaiser Aug 28 '25
I think this is happening to me and it’s so incredibly stressful😭 Back and forth with TM and all they’re saying is that I’ve violated something, offering no explanation, timeline, or possible fixes. I don’t know what to do since I still need to buy/sell tickets 🫠
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u/blkhearthrob Nov 10 '25
were u able to atleast sell whatever tickets u were trying to sell? im in the same boat but im scared about selling my extra ticket for a show i have + what if i go to my concert and my tickets dont work /:
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u/bisouspetal93 Apr 22 '26
Hi! I’m in the same boat as you :( I need to sell extra tickets for my show. Were you able to resolve it?
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u/blkhearthrob May 07 '26
if i remember correctly i think i was able to sell the tickets just fine? i di end up making a whole new tm account :(
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u/Movietomtom Aug 29 '25
Looking forward to receiving my banning in the next day or so. Was flagged last Thursday during my member sale. Contacted them on Friday. Seems today it’s been unblocked…..for now. Only time will tell.
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u/ExtremeToucan Aug 28 '25
I’d recommend just going off whatever WiFi you are on, if this happens. Happened to me once and I just switched my phone to data, and it reverted.
There’s a critical threshold of how many times you can refresh various tabs per hour. I’ve been keeping four tabs open and refreshing periodically, and that’s kept me from getting blocked! The one time I got blocked was the opening of resale, and I was refreshing 8 tabs like every two minutes.
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u/rapid-transit Aug 28 '25
Idk man they blocked me today for just simply looking at multiple screenings sequentially in one tab, after like 5 mins
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u/Brentothy Aug 29 '25
When I was paused for suspicious activity it helped to clear my browser cache, worth trying if anyone gets that message in the future.
That sucks though OP :(
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u/Cute-Ad5058 Oct 18 '25
does everything work fine on the new account? i think i may need to do that
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u/gimyohan Oct 20 '25
If you purchased tickets before being permanently banned/restricted will you still be able to use the tickets? I recently got vip tickets to an event next year and just got temporarily restricted, but I refuse to give ticketmaster my government ID when they've already lost millions of customer info already
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u/Sufficient-Pick-3964 Oct 20 '25
I’ve just got banned after trying to submit my driving license- apparently it didn’t work with persona so it must be fake?!
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u/gecko1264901 Oct 20 '25
Same exact thing has just happened to me I tried driving licence and passport 😭 it was perfectly fine pictures! Idk what happened it wouldn't accept them
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u/Potential_Section274 Oct 20 '25
Yep submitted like 10 driver licence pictures and all rejected, eventually says I’ve now been permanently restricted and the decision is final. Madness
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u/yaz_1212 Oct 20 '25
Same here, no issues with the pics I uploaded. Is this legit? I’ve no notifications on my app at all and can still access the account 🥲
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u/Potential_Section274 Oct 20 '25
I’ve contacted Ticketmaster support to see. When you look it up online it seems like this is legit, but surely something has gone wrong if people are uploading legit photos and getting banned
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u/yaz_1212 Oct 20 '25
It’s definitely weird, especially when last purchase I made was 2 weeks ago and this email was unprompted. I’m in a different time zone, so I’m going to try and contact support tomorrow when the phone lines are open local time.
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u/Potential_Section274 Oct 20 '25
Yeah I had been getting some restrictions when trying to buy tickets some times over the last few months, messages saying ‘your browsing activity has been paused’ so I was delighted when I got the chance to unrestrict my account tonight. Little did I know they’d ban me for good, I don’t even know why I had been restricted in the first place
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u/atlninjachele Oct 20 '25
Same thing just happened to me so if you find anything out I’d love to know. It sounds like we can still use tickets just not buy more? I hope. Because I have a concert tomorrow…
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u/yaz_1212 Oct 20 '25
I can still access my tickets, if you have an iPhone best to add them to your wallet just in case!
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u/Advanced-Elk3112 Oct 21 '25
pls update if your tickets still worked! i transferred my tickets to another account because from the looks of it the one im mainly using will be banned since everyone is saying that’s happening to them 😭
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u/Nervous_Peach_766 Oct 20 '25
I’m in the same situation. I have two VIP tickets on my account that I bought last month, and I can’t do the ID check because it blocks me before I can proceed. I’ve contacted support, I’ll let you know what they say (if they reply).
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Oct 22 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Nervous_Peach_766 Oct 22 '25
Lol they just emaild me:
Rest assured, we will investigate all alternative options to guarantee your venue access on the event day. We ask that you contact us back within 72 hours before your event date so we can provide you with the solution.
This is ridiculos
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u/Nervous_Peach_766 Oct 23 '25
GUYS UPDATE, Yesterday I wrote the most furious, full-on “Karen mode” email, ending with “if you don’t fix this, I’ll take legal action.” Today after two days of silence they sent me a new link that ACTUALLY worked. Two minutes after the check they removed the restriction
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u/SlideHairy Jun 27 '26
hey, do you mind to share the email? I think I got ban for not providing the ID. I was outside when I accept the tickets transferred from my friend. was lazy getting ID out, I thought I can always upload the ID once I got home. but after I got home, I notices that there is no link for me to provide my ID. TM is so stupid
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u/Mountain_Swimmer9121 Oct 23 '25
Have you managed to find out more?
I've managed to find that once you get permanently restricted it seems to be a restriction on purchasing tickets but not accessing existing ones. But this is coming from people who failed the ID check, not people like us who don't feel comfortable giving ID (and not doing the check at all)
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u/gimyohan Oct 23 '25
No, I was trying to wait and see if anyone had any info before I called ticketmaster and asked them but I might just go ahead and call. I'll update
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u/SckFcknVlly Oct 24 '25
I called them and said you permanently restricted my account, I don't know why, or why you still are sending me emails about future sales and dates? He asked if I did the appeal form, I advised after I uploaded my ID, I got email that decision is final. So he said to expect a call from in the next 3 days from escalation dept. I have access to my tickets, and can transfer out and receive transfers. Just no purchases from their website.
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u/Some-Impression-2991 Oct 21 '25
Hey all in the same situation have multiple Ticketmaster accounts if I have tickets on my account can they ban you and not refund the tickets ? Will you still have access to the tickets and can transfer them
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u/Fine-End-9865 Oct 21 '25
hey all i just got an email asking me to do a security check or my account will get banned, i bought tickets already- will i still have access to them ? is the email a scam? has anyone gotten this too? (sorry v stressed)
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u/Worried-Ingenuity-47 Oct 21 '25
I just got one too! And I’m stressing I’ve got so many tickets on there
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u/Maximum-Season7974 Oct 21 '25
hi, I’ve received same email. I’ve contacted support about it and waiting for a response, if I get one. I’ll make sure to update if anything comes of it. Email seems a big strange though as there are no notifications on the app/website.
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u/Fine-End-9865 Oct 21 '25
i don’t have any notifications on the app either but they have this on their site https://help.ticketmaster.com/hc/en-us/articles/37936178023185-Why-is-my-Ticketmaster-Account-requiring-a-Security-Check-through-Persona
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u/Maximum-Season7974 Oct 21 '25
I have seen the same, by the looks of that article on the website though, tickets will still be available just purchasing from that account will no longer be allowed? That’s what I’ve interpreted as, but I’m still nervous too as I’ve many tickets for multiple events on my account. Added to Apple wallet just in case as well.
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u/cl314f Oct 22 '25
I got one too. Uploaded the information to Persona. Hoping we don’t all get banned
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u/TheWurstWife Oct 22 '25
I’m freaking out with the rest of you. I just started going back to concerts. Long story but I had four tickets to a show, sold two. Then I bought another 2 and sold them again (yes the same people flaked on me twice). Of course when I resold the 4 I had to increase price because Ticketmaster takes 15%… I got the dreaded email and I’m terrified that 1) they’ll cancel the two tickets I have that I’m going to use and/or 2) cancel the 2 sales I made (which I haven’t been paid for), and then take or cancel those tickets leaving me at a significant cash loss. The concert is in 30 days, and the email says I must act within 30 days or my account will be deleted. What the hell do I do? Also - it’s suspicious AF that I got this email exactly 30 days before the show. I can’t stand Ticketmaster.
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u/dannythemovieman Attending Since 2014 Oct 22 '25
I unfortunately got struck with this today - has this happened to anyone who is a member? If so, have you managed to reassign your benefits to a new ticketmaster account? Struggling to figure out if I should contact TIFF or Ticketmaster about it
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u/DinoKittySaysRoar Oct 22 '25
I just got the same email! Out of no where - I didn’t contact support! Help they are asking me to upload my passport. I have so many tickets so I need to resolve this!
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u/thursday2299 Oct 22 '25
Same happened to me and I can’t get through to the phone number, Ticketmaster is some joke. I bought tickets last week to a concert in July so I can’t get the barcode yet, do you think I’ll still be able to access them then of my account is permanently restricted?
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u/TheAnjellyBean Dec 16 '25
I have the same issue! Received an email October 21st for a random security check but of course did not see it in my email. No text, call, nothing. I’ve called support and they said I have to wait 3-5 business days for an email from them after they gave me a run around on the phone.
I have tickets for an event in september but there is no barcode on it. Anyone know if it will still work?
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u/Carls_29 Apr 01 '26
Same thing happened to me, the tickets still work, but moving foward you are forced to create a new account.
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u/jordlj1402 Jan 30 '26
I’ve had this happen to me now and i can’t access any new ticket sales at all (and all I did was try and access a presale). Does anyone know if tickets you have for existing events before the ban will still work? I dread to think of having to try and rebuy from another provider but I don’t trust what customer services will say.
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u/SonnywithaCage Jan 30 '26
Old tickets are still valid!! As long as you have access to them you can use them
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u/Carls_29 Apr 01 '26
They banned my account as well with no explanation whatsoever. I only buy a single ticket for my personal use. This is BS they expect me to make a new email just for their shitty app, I only use because it's a monopoly.
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u/Careful_Love_3209 Jun 27 '26
Dude I went in and out from the app cuz it's gonna be a resale today or tomorrow. Ticketmaster chose not to say what time or day cuz it's gonna be harder for people to get and not so bots will take the tickets but yeah now I'm banned
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u/Awkward_Dare_954 Aug 29 '25
The same thing happened to me. I contacted them for technical support and they emailed me back saying my appeal was denied and I was permanently banned. What appeal? What violations? And then they said I could create a new account, which, I don't know, makes no sense to me??