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Major Ticket Fraud Scheme Uncovered in New York
The Queens District Attorney’s office reported this week the arrest of two individuals involved in a significant ticket fraud operation that generated over $600,000 in illegal profits through the sale of stolen tickets for popular events, including concerts by Taylor Swift, NBA games, and more.
Tyrone Rose, aged 20, from Kingston, Jamaica, and Shamara P. Simmons, 31, who resides in Jamaica, Queens, were apprehended on Thursday. They face multiple charges, including grand larceny in the second degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree, and two counts related to hacking, specifically computer tampering in both the first and fourth degrees.
As outlined by the District Attorney’s office, Rose, along with an unnamed accomplice, was employed by a third-party contractor named Sutherland in Jamaica. During their employment, they illegally accessed ticket URLs from StubHub. Subsequently, they forwarded the stolen tickets via email to Simmons and another unidentified individual for resale on the same platform. Notably, the accomplice involved in the resale operations has since passed away.
The fraudulent activities reportedly occurred between June 2022 and July 2023, resulting in the theft of nearly 993 tickets across approximately 350 orders on StubHub. This elaborate scheme was not only limited to concerts; the majority of the pilfered tickets belonged to Swift’s highly anticipated “The Eras” tour, but the operation also targeted tickets for performances by Adele and Ed Sheeran, as well as entries to the US Open Tennis Championships and various NBA games.
The arrests were executed on February 27, marking a significant triumph for law enforcement in combating cybercrime and protecting consumer rights in the ticketing industry.
Source
www.thewrap.com