Cybercrime crew stole then resold hundreds of tickets to Swift shows, prosecutors say
NEW YORK — A cybercrime crew stole then resold more than 900 digital tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and other pricey events on StubHub, according to prosecutors in New York.
The international scam involved people working in Jamaica for a firm contracted by the online ticket marketplace, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Monday.
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 a year between June 2022 and July 2023, according to prosecutors.
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.
Katz added that investigators are still determining the extent of the operation, including other potential co-conspirators.
Two of those involved, Tyrone Rose and Shamara Simmons, were arrested and charged last Thursday with grand larceny, computer tampering and conspiracy charges, Katz’s office said.
Rose, 20, was among those in Jamaica who re-directed purchased tickets to the emails of Simmons, 31, and another accomplice based in the New York City borough of Queens, according to prosecutors.
Rose was apprehended while he was visiting New York and was ordered to surrender his passport, Katz’s office said Tuesday. He and Simmons pleaded not guilty and were released pending their next court date Friday.
The public defender’s office representing Rose declined to comment, and lawyers for Simmons didn’t immediately respond Tuesday.
StubHub said Tuesday that it had discovered the criminal scheme and reported it to authorities and its third-party customer service vendor.
The company said it has since 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, according to StubHub.
More than 20 dead after tornadoes sweep through Kentucky and Missouri
Powerful storms and tornadoes tore through several Midwestern and Southern states overnight Friday, leaving carnage and flattened buildings in their wake.
Amid global competition for production business, Hollywood is hurting
Hollywood's plummeting film and TV production levels have studio executives and grassroots groups pushing for better incentives to keep business in California.
Bessemer residents want answers about a four-million-square-foot data center coming to their backyards
Residents in and around Bessemer are furious over Project Marvel, a plan to build a 4.5-million-square-foot data processing facility on 700 acres of wooded land. Public officials have been sworn to silence.
A Russian drone strike in northeastern Ukraine kills 9 people, officials say
The drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from a front-line area in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region Saturday, hours after Moscow and Kyiv had held their first direct peace talks in years.
How DOGE has tried to embed beyond the executive branch
NPR has identified nearly 40 small, independent entities – both inside and outside the federal government's control – that a team of young DOGE staffers has tried to access in recent weeks.
The first time we had ‘one big, beautiful bill’ we called it Reaganomics
Budget reconciliation may not be catchy, but it's been a vital tool for many presidents, including Ronald Reagan, whose first federal budget was a watershed in the history of federal fiscal policy.
