With the news that two people have been arrested and arranged in New York City for stealing more than 900 concert tickets, many on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, there’s bad blood brewing between Swifties and the alleged perpetrators.
The two alleged thieves raked in more than $600,000 in the scam, lining their pockets while fans who bought tickets were left angry and confused about how their digital tickets seemingly disappeared.
Tyrone Rose and Shamara P. Simmons were arrested Thursday, Feb. 27, according to Variety. Prosecutors from the District Attorney’s Office in Queens County allege the pair stole about 933 tickets to the Eras Tour as well as Adele and Ed Sheeran concerts after gaining access to digital tickets purchased by fans.
Rose and another individual were employed by Sunderland, a contractor for the ticket service StubHub in Kingston, Jamaica, per the report. By using their access to the service’s website they were able to grab the URLs for already purchased tickets and then repost and resell them for profit. A third person involved the plot has died.
Swift fans hearing the news aren’t just shaking it off but are out for blood.
“death sentence i fear,” one fan posted on X, while another applauded the news, writing, “Nice. Get those thieves!”
Another suggested a harsh punishment, “Lets publicly burn them like they did to the witches in Salem.”
Yet another poster suggested a technical solution for ticket sellers. “If only Ticketmaster would put two step authentication in place for transfers to prevent this from happening.” That comment may have been sarcastic because the ticket retailer does have two-factor authentication for some account services.
For their part, StubHub’s chief legal officer Mark Streams shared a statement with 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. 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,” it reads.