Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has announced that 2 Jamaican men were arrested Thursday, February 27th. They were charged with cybercrime thefts of nearly a thousand tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
The ticket URLs were allegedly stolen by two individuals working at a third-party contractor for StubHub in Kingston, Jamaica. The stolen URLs were then emailed to two co-conspirators in Jamaica, Queens. The two downloaded the tickets and resold them on StubHub for personal profit, raking in approximately $635,000 over the course of one year.
Rose and Simmons face charges, including grand larceny, computer tampering, and conspiracy.
They each face a potential maximum sentence of three to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The investigation remains ongoing to determine the extent of this operation, including other potential co-conspirators.
District Attorney Continues Investigation
The charges and investigation involve dates between June 2022 and July 2023. Approximately 350 StubHub orders, resulting in approximately 993 tickets, were intercepted. The two individuals allegedly responsible were working for a third-party contractor in Kingston, Jamaica, called Sutherland.
“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,” Katz said. “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.”
“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 at 718-286-6673 or CyberCrimes@queensda.org,” Katz said. She also added that the investigation remains ongoing to determine the extent of the operation. She believes there may be other potential co-conspirators.
StubHub Responds
StubHub issued the following statement in response to the investigation:
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. 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.
Under StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee, all identified StubHub orders impacted by the cybercrime crew have been replaced or fully refunded. Under the program, StubHub ensures that customers will receive an equivalent or better replacement ticket, or a full refund.
The investigation was referred to the District Attorney’s office by StubHub itself. It was conducted by Senior Rackets Investigator Patrick Roach of the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau, under the supervision of Sergeant Linda DenDekker and under the overall supervision of Chief Investigator Robert LaPollo.
StubHub also ended its relationship with SGS.
“StubHub has since replaced or refunded all identified orders impacted and strengthened security measures to further protect our fans and sellers,” Streams said. “We appreciate the efforts of District Attorney Melinda Katz and law enforcement in bringing these individuals to justice.”
