Skip to main content Tech Radar Pro Tech Radar Gaming Tech Radar Pro TechRadar the business technology experts Search TechRadar View Profile België (Nederlands) Deutschland North America US (English) Australasia New Zealand Expert Insights Website builders Web hosting Best web hosting Best website builder Best office chairs Expert Insights Cybercriminals used vendor backdoor to steal almost $600,000 of Taylor Swift tickets By Ellen Jennings-Trace published 7 March 2025 Two StubHub employees have been charged When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Shutterstock / EugeneEdge) Two cybercriminals have stolen over $600,000 worth of tickets The tickets were primarily Taylor Swift concert tickets The criminals used a backdoor into the StubHub systems to redirect the tickets A pair of cybercriminals have been arrested and charged after allegedly stealing over 900 concert tickets, raking in over $635,000 in profit. This works out to an eyewatering $700 average profit per ticket, so it might not surprise you to hear that the criminals mostly stole from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, as well as other high profile events like NBA games and the US Open. The two criminals were employees of ticket site StubHub, and are accused of using their access to company systems to find a backdoor into a “secure area of the network” where tickets that had already been sold were assigned a URL and queued to be sent to the customer. The criminal, Tyrone Rose, then redirected the URLs to his co-conspirator, Shamara Simmons. The criminals have been charged with grand larceny in the second degree, computer tampering in the first degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree, and computer tampering in the fourth degree - and face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. You may like Casio’s online store hit by bogus credit card stealing checkout form Global police operation takes down major cybercrime and hacking forums High value targets Scams targeting popular events like sports competitions, shows, and concerts, especially the hugely popular Taylor Swift Eras tour - are common as criminals look to take advantage of the urgency of quick-selling tickets. In this case, the tickets were purchased through a perfectly legitimate site, but customers were still defrauded, which makes this case particularly worrying. “According to the charges, these defendants tried to use the popularity of Taylor Swift’s concert tour and other high-profile events to profit at the [expense] of others,” said District Attorney Melinda Katz. “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.” You might also like Take a look at our picks for the best malware removal software around Check out our recommendations for the best antivirus software Deepfake scam calls are costing British victims hundreds each time - here's how to stay safe Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Ellen Jennings-Trace Social Links Navigation Staff Writer Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Casio’s online store hit by bogus credit card stealing checkout form Global police operation takes down major cybercrime and hacking forums 5 massive privacy scandals that rocked the world – and made millions of victims Hackers use CAPTCHA scam in PDF files on Webflow CDN to get past security systems ID theft – what happens when someone steals your identity Common internet scams and how to avoid them Latest in Security Cybercriminals used vendor backdoor to steal almost $600,000 of Taylor Swift tickets UK government guidelines remove encryption advice following Apple backdoor spat Ransomware’s favorite Russian crypto exchange seized by law enforcement Thousands of WordPress sites targeted with malicious plugin backdoor attacks Malicious "polymorphic" Chrome extensions can mimic other tools to trick victims Hackers spotted using unsecured webcam to launch cyberattack Latest in News I compared GPT-4.5 to Gemini 2.0 Flash and the results surprised me Apple officially delays the AI-infused Siri and admits, ‘It’s going to take us longer than we thought’ Samsung, Apple and Meta want to use OLED in their next VR headsets – but only Meta has a plan to make it cheap AMD officially announces price and release date for Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D processors There's something strange going on with Google Pixel phone vibrations after the latest update Cybercriminals used vendor backdoor to steal almost $600,000 of Taylor Swift tickets More about security Ransomware’s favorite Russian crypto exchange seized by law enforcement Thousands of WordPress sites targeted with malicious plugin backdoor attacks I compared GPT-4.5 to Gemini 2.0 Flash and the results surprised me See more latest Most Popular I compared GPT-4.5 to Gemini 2.0 Flash and the results surprised me Brother denies claims it locked down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates The anti-Cybertruck? This new electric pick-up is the size of a Mini and the cutest way to haul your gear Apple officially delays the AI-infused Siri and admits, ‘It’s going to take us longer than we thought’ AMD officially announces price and release date for Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D processors This is Amazon's first foray in servers, and certainly not the last: MicroTik franken-router is powered by the AWS Graviton 1 Arm CPU Samsung, Apple and Meta want to use OLED in their next VR headsets – but only Meta has a plan to make it cheap Ransomware’s favorite Russian crypto exchange seized by law enforcement There's something strange going on with Google Pixel phone vibrations after the latest update NordVPN reacts to results from its latest security audit LATEST ARTICLES I compared GPT-4.5 to Gemini 2.0 Flash and the results surprised me Brother denies claims it locked down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates The anti-Cybertruck? This new electric pick-up is the size of a Mini and the cutest way to haul your gear Apple officially delays the AI-infused Siri and admits, ‘It’s going to take us longer than we thought’ AMD officially announces price and release date for Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D processors TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Web notifications Accessibility Statement Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Please login or signup to comment Please wait...