Two people were arrested in New York City after reportedly using backdoor access to StubHub’s system to obtain the URLs for 900 concert tickets, the most of which were for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Tyrone Rose, 20, and Shamara Simmons, 31, have been arrested and charged in Kingston, Jamaica, with fraud using a StubHub contractor, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. According to Katz, Rose and an unidentified accomplice worked for the contractor, Sutherland Global Services (SGS), and used their access to StubHub’s system between June 2022 and July 2023 to “find a backdoor into a secure area of the network where already sold tickets were given a URL and queued to be emailed the purchaser to download.”

Rose and his co-conspirator redirected the URLs to Simmons’ and a now-deceased accomplice’s emails, both of whom lived in Queens, NY. Rose and the accomplice submitted 993 tickets acquired as part of about 350 StubHub orders. The co-conspirators obtained the tickets from the URLs and sold them on StubHub for a profit of around $635,000. The majority of the tickets were for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but there were also tickets for Adele and Ed Sheeran concerts, NBA games, and US Open tennis events. The indictments allege that the defendants sought to profit off 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.” Katz stated that the case was presented to her office by StubHub, which did not reply to requests for comment. The ticket business told local news sources that when it found the plan, it notified third-party vendor SGS, Jamaican law police, and Katz’ office. StubHub reports that the staff were promptly sacked from SGS. Rose and Simmons face grand larceny charges

Rose and Simmons face allegations of grand larceny, computer tampering, and conspiracy. The two will appear in court on Friday, with a maximum term of three to 15 years in prison if convicted. Katz’s office stated that they are currently examining the issue to see if there are any additional parties involved. Ticket sales, notably for Swift’s Eras Tour, remain a top target for fraudsters targeting ticketing services such as StubHub and Ticketmaster. Last year, Ticketmaster had to refute accusations on the dark web that hackers had obtained working ticket barcodes for numerous future Taylor Swift concerts and other events. When tickets for the tour first went on sale in 2022, bots crippled the Ticketmaster website.