Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour suffers massive losses from stolen tickets

Various concerts, especially Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, have been victims of a scam that allowed its operators to resell thousands of stolen concert tickets online.

Based on reports, two third-party contractors for the StubHub internet ticket marketplace earned $635,000 by reselling over 1,000 concert tickets online. Authorities claim that most stolen tickets were for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

However, the crooks did target other high-value and high-profile events, such as Ed Sheeran and Adele concerts, NBA games, and the US Open Tennis Championships.

 

The ticketing platform’s vulnerability caused the malicious campaign that compromised Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ticket sales.

 

A couple of workers for Sutherland Global Services in Jamaica allegedly stole the tickets, most of which are from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, by intercepting around 350 StubHub orders using an offshore ticket vendor’s platform flaw.

The Queens County District Attorney explained the Sutherland employees and an unidentified accomplice allegedly used their access to StubHub’s computer system to find a backdoor into a secure area of the network where previously sold tickets were given a URL and queued to be emailed to the purchaser for download.

The scammers and his co-conspirator redirected the URLs to the email addresses of the co-conspirator in Queens and a now-deceased accomplice who lived there. The inquiry is ongoing, with prosecutors attempting to determine the scope of the operation, including potential co-conspirators who have yet to be identified.

These Sutherland employees were arrested in New York City and arraigned on Thursday on second-degree grand larceny, first-degree computer tampering, fourth-degree conspiracy, and fourth-degree computer tampering.

If found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of three to 15 years in jail if convicted on the highest charge. According to the charges, these individuals attempted to benefit from the popularity of Taylor Swift’s concert tour and other high-profile events at the expense of fans and avid concertgoers.

This new activity shows how hackers find illicit ways to earn. Therefore, users should be more cautious when buying internet products by ensuring they are legitimate. Always purchase from official stores and avoid engaging in transactions with unknown platforms, especially if they offer huge discounts.