Hackers arrested for scalping $600K worth of stolen Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which began in March 2023 and concluded in December 2024, became the highest grossing concert tours of all time, generating $2 Billion in revenue. This enormous success has driven many to resort to unscrupulous methods to resell tickets at exorbitant prices.

On Thursday, two individuals were arrested in Queens connected with the theft of over nine hundred tickets from the Eras Tour. They had allegedly resold the tickets that generated a profit of $600,000.

Pop Base tweeted the news of the arrests on X (formerly Twitter):

"Two hackers have been arrested for allegedly stealing over 900 concert tickets, (of which most were for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour), and then selling them for over $600,000 profit."

Taylor Swift's concert ticket hackers arrested as more details emerge

Queens District Attorney, Melinda Katz announced in a statement that the two hackers have been arrested in connection to the incident.

The suspects, 20-year-old Tyronne Rose and 31-year-old Sharma P. Simmons, were taken into custody and presented to the Queens Criminal Court on 27 February. They have been charged with first-degree computer tampering, grand larceny in the second degree, computer tampering in the fourth degree, and fourth degree conspiracy charges.

The statement from the District Attorney read:

"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 expensive of others. 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."

She further added:

"This takedown highlights the vigilance of my office’s Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency Unit as well as the importance of working with our industry partners to combat fraudulent activities and ensure the protection of consumers. I thank StubHub for alerting us to this important case and encourage any Queens resident who may have been a victim of a cybercrime to contact our Cyber Crimes team”

The investigation is ongoing to determine the full extent of the operation and understand how the network functioned. Rose and Simmons are scheduled to return to Court on March 7, to present their cases. If convicted, the pair could face a potential sentence ranging from three to fifteen years.

Authorities had been tracking this network for some time. This ticket fraud scheme had been operating for the past year involving two employees of a third-party contractor, Sutherland, which provided services for StubHub. These employees, allegedly based in Kingston, Jamaica, stole the URLs of the online tickets.

These individuals then sent the links to two associates in Queens, New York, who could download the tickets and resell them at a significant profit. Marks Streams, the legal representative for StubHub said in a Statement to Variety:

"At StubHub, ensuring a safe and secure platform for our fans is our highest priority. 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. The individuals involved, employees of SGS, exploited a system vulnerability to fraudulently resell tickets."

He further added:

"They were swiftly identified and terminated. StubHub has since replaced or refunded all identified orders impacted and strengthened security measures to further protect our fans and sellers. We appreciate the efforts of District Attorney Melinda Katz and law enforcement in bringing these individuals to justice.”

The individuals involved in this fraudulent scheme targeted high-value events, including the NBA games, and the Ed Sheeran concert, among others.