## Cybercrime Ring Busted for Stealing and Reselling Taylor Swift Eras Tour Tickets, Raking in Over $600,000
A sophisticated cybercrime operation has been uncovered, involving the theft of nearly 1,000 concert tickets, including a significant number for the highly sought-after Taylor Swift Eras Tour, as well as tickets to other prominent events like Adele and Ed Sheeran concerts, NBA games, and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. New York prosecutors have announced that the stolen tickets, originally purchased through StubHub, were resold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz revealed that the elaborate scheme involved individuals based in Kingston, Jamaica, who were employed by Sutherland Global Services, a third-party contractor partnered with StubHub, a prominent ticket exchange and resale platform. These individuals allegedly exploited their access to StubHub's computer system to pilfer ticket URLs and subsequently transmit them to co-conspirators located in Queens, New York.
According to Katz, the co-conspirators in Queens then downloaded the stolen tickets and proceeded to resell them on StubHub at inflated prices, generating substantial personal gains. Over the course of approximately one year, the cybercrime ring amassed over $600,000 in profits from their illegal activities.
The Taylor Swift Eras Tour, which recently achieved the distinction of becoming the highest-grossing tour of all time with over $2.7 billion in ticket sales last year, was a prime target for the criminals. However, they also targeted other high-demand events, demonstrating the scale and ambition of their operation.
Law enforcement authorities in New York apprehended two individuals allegedly involved in the scheme last Thursday. Tyrone Rose, 20, of Kingston, Jamaica, and Shamara Simmons, 31, of Jamaica, Queens, have been formally charged with second-degree grand larceny, first-degree and fourth-degree computer tampering, and fourth-degree conspiracy.
Rose and Simmons are scheduled to appear in court again on Friday. If convicted on the top count, they each face a maximum sentence of three to fifteen years in prison.
"According to the charges, these defendants tried to use the popularity of Taylor Swift’s concert tour and other high-profile events to profit at the expense of others," District Attorney Katz stated. "They allegedly exploited a loophole through an offshore ticket vendor to steal tickets to the biggest concert tour of the last decade and then resold those seats for an extraordinary profit of more than $600,000."
Katz also emphasized that the investigation is ongoing to fully determine the extent of the operation and identify any other potential co-conspirators who may have been involved. Her office has urged any Queens residents who believe they may have been victims of this cybercrime to contact them directly.
The investigation revealed that between June 2022 and July 2023, approximately 350 StubHub orders, encompassing around 993 tickets, were intercepted by two individuals working for Sutherland Global Services in Jamaica. Rose, along with another accomplice who remains unapprehended, allegedly utilized their access to StubHub's computer system to gain entry to a secure area containing tickets that had already been sold and were awaiting email delivery to the purchasers for download.
Katz explained that Rose and his accomplice then redirected the URLs to the email accounts of Simmons and another accomplice in New York, who has since passed away. These individuals subsequently downloaded the tickets from the re-routed URLs and resold them on StubHub, profiting handsomely from their illegal activities.
The total proceeds from the scheme are estimated to be around $635,000, according to Katz.
StubHub has confirmed that they identified all orders affected by the scheme and have either replaced the tickets or provided full refunds to the affected customers. The company also terminated its relationship with Sutherland Global Services in response to the incident.
"Upon discovering this criminal scheme, we immediately reported it to the third-party customer service vendor, Sutherland Global Services (SGS), as well as to the Queens District Attorney’s Office and Jamaican law enforcement," said Mark Streams, chief legal officer at StubHub. "The individuals involved, employees of SGS, exploited a system vulnerability to fraudulently resell tickets. They were swiftly identified and terminated."
This announcement comes amidst increasing warnings from ticket sales companies and marketplaces about potential scams and security vulnerabilities.
Last May, Live Nation reported "unauthorized activity" in a third-party cloud database that contained Ticketmaster data. The company launched an investigation into the data breach, which a cybercrime group claimed involved the theft of user data belonging to over 500 million Ticketmaster customers.
A subsequent lawsuit accused the companies of negligence and allowing a third-party company to gain unauthorized access to the private information of hundreds of millions of customers. The lawsuit alleged that the stolen information was being offered for sale on the dark web for $500,000.
Ticketmaster faced further scrutiny in October when users reported that their concert tickets had mysteriously disappeared from their accounts, resulting in significant financial losses. The company attributed the incident to hackers.
"What we’re seeing is scammers accessing a fan’s email account," a Ticketmaster spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson emphasized that user passwords had not been compromised in the data incident earlier that year. The company advised users to take proactive measures to protect themselves by "setting a strong unique password for all accounts – especially for their personal email which is where we often see security issues originate."
"Scammers are looking for new cheats across every industry, and tickets will always be a target because they are valuable, so Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security enhancements to safeguard fans," Ticketmaster said in a statement.
These incidents highlight the growing threat of cybercrime in the ticketing industry and the importance of robust security measures to protect consumers. The investigation into the StubHub ticket theft scheme is ongoing, and authorities are committed to bringing all those involved to justice.
This situation serves as a stark reminder for consumers to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions to protect their personal information and online accounts. Utilizing strong, unique passwords and monitoring accounts for any suspicious activity are crucial steps in preventing becoming a victim of cybercrime. Furthermore, exercising caution when purchasing tickets from unofficial sources can help minimize the risk of encountering fraudulent or stolen tickets. The ongoing efforts of law enforcement and ticketing companies to combat cybercrime are essential in safeguarding the integrity of the industry and protecting consumers from financial losses.
