Two Jamaican men, one from Queens and the other from the island nation, were apprehended and charged for their involvement in a cybercrime operation that resulted in the theft of more than 900 concert tickets, with a majority of them being for Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour.
The incident unfolded when two individuals employed at a third-party contractor for StubHub in Kingston, Jamaica, reportedly pilfered ticket URLs before sending them via email to two co-conspirators in Jamaica, Queens. These individuals, identified as Shamara P. Simmons, 31, of Jamaica, Queens, and Tyrone Rose, 20, of Kingston, Jamaica, proceeded to download the tickets and subsequently resold them on StubHub for personal profit, totaling over $600,000 within a year, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s announcement.
Katz condemned the defendants’ actions, stating that they sought to capitalize on the popularity of Taylor Swift’s concert tour and other prominent events to enrich themselves at the expense of others. She emphasized that the scheme exploited a loophole through an offshore ticket vendor, resulting in the theft of tickets from one of the decade’s most significant concert tours.
The investigation revealed that between June 2022 and July 2023, approximately 350 StubHub orders, yielding close to 1,000 tickets, were intercepted by Rose and an accomplice at the Sutherland third-party contractor. By exploiting their access to StubHub’s computer system, the perpetrators gained unauthorized entry into a secure network area where sold tickets were queued for email delivery to purchasers for download.
Upon intercepting the URLs, Rose and his counterpart redirected them to Simmons and another accomplice in Queens, who subsequently uploaded the tickets to StubHub for resale. The illicit scheme targeted high-value events such as Swift’s stadium tour, Adele and Ed Sheeran concerts, NBA games, and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, with the overall proceeds estimated at $635,000.
Katz commended her office’s Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency Unit for the successful operation and underscored the importance of collaboration with industry partners to combat fraudulent activities and safeguard consumers. Queens Criminal Court Judge Anthony Battisti scheduled Simmons and Rose to reappear in court on March 7, with a potential maximum prison term of three to 15 years if convicted on the primary charge.
The District Attorney urged any Queens resident who may have fallen victim to cybercrime to contact the Cyber Crimes team at 718-286-6673 or CyberCrimes@queensda.org. She also noted that the investigation remains ongoing to uncover the full extent of the operation, including identifying additional potential co-conspirators.
In conclusion, the arrest of Simmons and Rose sheds light on the prevalence of cybercrime targeting ticketing systems and underscores the necessity for robust measures to safeguard the integrity of online transactions and protect consumers from fraudulent activities. The case serves as a poignant reminder of the vigilance required to combat cyber threats and uphold trust in digital platforms.