2 People Charged with Taylor Swift Eras Tour Ticket Scam That Allegedly Netted More Than $600K

Mar. 15, 2025

Taylor Swift performs onstage for the opening night of ‘The Eras Tour’ at State Farm Stadium on March 17, 2023.Photo:John Shearer/Getty

John Shearer/Getty

Two people have been arrested after allegedly helping to steal more than 900 tickets — a majority of which were forTaylor Swift’sEras Tour— and reselling them online to make more than $600,000 in profit, according to authorities.

The office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katzannouncedthat Tyrone Rose, 20, of Kingston, Jamaica and Shamara P. Simmons, 31, of Jamaica, Queens in New York were arrested on Thursday, Feb. 27 and charged with grand larceny in the second degree, computer tampering in the first degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree and computer tampering in the fourth degree.

“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 shared in a statement.

She continued, “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."

Taylor Swift performs onstage for the opening night of ‘The Eras Tour’.Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

“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," she concluded in her statement.

According to the Queens D.A.’s Office, Rose and an accomplice who had yet to be apprehended worked at a third-party contractor called Sutherland for StubHub in Kingston, Jamaica.

They allegedly used their access to StubHub’s computer system to “find a backdoor into a secure area of the network where already sold tickets were given a URL and queued to be emailed to the purchaser to download.”

Taylor Swift fans take a photo of their tickets purchased for the show at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Feb. 16, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

According to the D.A.’s office, the pair allegedly made $635,000 off of the intercepted tickets, which were for Swift’s Eras Tour, concerts forAdeleandEd Sheeranand tickets for NBA games and the US Open Tennis Championships.

Swift’s production company, Taylor Swift Touring, previously confirmed to theNew York Timesthat over 10 million people attended the Eras Tour — and that it sold over $2 billion in total tickets, making itthe bestselling tour of all timeand “double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.”

StubHub had referred the investigation to the district attorney’s office. The Queens D.A.’s Office encouraged people to contact their Cyber Crimes team at 718-286-6673 orCyberCrimes@queensda.orgif they believe they were a victim of a cybercrime.

source: people.com