Eras Tour Ticket Thefts: NYC Officials Charge Two for Making Over $600,000 After Reselling Taylor Swift and More Artists' Tickets

Published 03/03/2025, 11:00 PM EST

As Taylor Swift bewitched audiences across the globe with the Eras Tour, die-hard fans moved mountains, crossed oceans, and cleared calendars last minute just to witness her magic in the flesh. But while Swifties were swept up in the euphoria, a darker force lurked in the shadows. As the final bows loomed and the emotional weight of the impending farewell settled in, another kind of frenzy took over—one built on deception. Scammers preyed on desperate Swifties, dangling golden tickets that never truly existed.

Four months after the curtain call, NYC authorities have unmasked two culprits, guilty of orchestrating a six-figure heist. But the kicker is, the Eras Tour was not the only victim.

NYC authorities finally get a hold of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour scammers

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According to a recent press release by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, two individuals, Tyrone Rose and Shamara P. Simmons, have been taken into custody for their role in a cybercrime theft of over 900 concert tickets. The majority of these were for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. These two were working as a third-party contractor for StubHub in Kingston, Jamaica, and reportedly stole the URL tickets and sold them to two others in Jamaica, Queens. 

These two then downloaded the tickets and eventually resold them on StubHub, reaping handsome profits of over $600,000 over the course of a year. The arrest happened on Thursday, charging them with “grand larceny in the second degree, computer tampering in the first degree, cons---acy in the fourth degree, and computer tampering in the fourth degree.” As per the report, they could each face a maximum sentence of 3 to 15 years behind the bars if convicted.  

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, however, was just one of the victims. 

Who was affected other than Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in the ticket scam?

According to the press release by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was not the only one who fell prey to these scammers, though ticket-touting had been abundant during the last leg. As per the reports, the overall proceeds from this scam are valued at a whopping $635,000. Though Eras Tour was affected the most, Adele’s concerts and Ed Sheeran’s concerts too had to pay the price.

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That is not all. NBA games and the US Open Tennis Championships were also part of this. Stubhub itself referred to the District Attorney’s office for this investigation which was conducted by Senior Rackets Investigator Patrick Roach of the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau. He was supervised by Sergeant Linda DenDekker and Chief Investigator Robert LaPollo. Although the trial may take time, given the authorities have taken a crucial step ahead, it should not be long before justice is served.

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What do you think of the NYC authorities' action against Taylor Swift's Eras Tour's scammers? Let us know in the comments below!

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Anushka Bhattacharya

2047 articles

I'm Anushka Bhattacharya, an entertainment journalist at Netflix Junkie. Armed with a degree in literature, I once wielded my words to catalyze change within society through my work with NGOs. However, as I stumbled into the exuberant hole of crime thrillers and documentaries on Netflix, it was love at first sight and pushed me into entertainment journalism.

Edited By: Aliza Siddiqui

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