Cybercrime crew stole then resold hundreds of tickets to Swift concerts, prosecutors say

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NEW YORK (AP) — 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.