Cybercriminals Stole, Resold Hundreds of Taylor Swift Tickets

A cybercrime crew stole and resold more than 900 digital tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and other pricey events on StubHub, say New York prosecutors. The international scam involved people working in Jamaica for a firm contracted by the online ticket marketplace, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, the Associated Press reports. The contractors stole the URLs of tickets purchased on StubHub and emailed them to others in New York, who then downloaded and resold them on StubHub at exorbitant prices, she said. The crew raked in more than $600,000 in profits over roughly between June 2022 and July 2023. The majority of the stolen tickets were for Swift’s Eras Tour, but the thieves also boosted ones for Adele and Ed Sheeran concerts, NBA games and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Investigators are still determining the extent of the operation, including other potential co-conspirators.

Two of those involved, Tyrone Rose and Shamara Simmons, were charged with grand larceny, computer tampering and conspiracy charges. Rose, 20, was among those in Jamaica who re-directed purchased tickets to the emails of Simmons, 31, and another accomplice based New York City. Rose was apprehended while he was visiting New York and was ordered to surrender his passport. StubHub said it had discovered the criminal scheme and reported it to authorities and its third-party customer service vendor. The company said it has terminated its relationship with the vendor and strengthened its security measures. All ticket orders so far identified as impacted by the theft have also been replaced or fully refunded, StubHub said.