Taylor Swift is one of the most successful recording artists in the world. She has undoubtedly made money, and lots of it, over her nearly two-decade-long career. However, with recent news out of New York, not all the money goes to her.
Swift spent over two years on the road. Of course, the pop megastar took some breaks here and there to spend time at home with her Kansas City Chiefs star boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Even though she took those breaks, the tour still racked in over $2 billion.
However, according to 1010 WINS in New York, some scammers have benefitted from Swift’s mega-successful tour. Two men were arrested in connection with an apparent stolen ticket scheme, which netted them over $600,000.
According to Melinda Katz, a District Attorney in the Queens District, “Tyrone Rose, 20, and Shamara P. Simmons, 31, were arrested and arraigned last week on a criminal complaint charging them with grand larceny, computer tampering, and conspiracy.”
$600k Recovered From Taylor Swift Ticket Scam
The two individuals who operated as third-party StubHub contractors in Jamaica stole ticket URLs and sent them to Rose and Simmons. They would earn a reported $600 thousand from the elaborate scheme.
“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,” Melinda Katz said. She added, “They allegedly exploited a loophole in 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.”
If these two men are convicted of the crime they are accused of, they could face up to 15 years in prison. It’s an ironically hefty price to pay for scamming an insane $600 thousand from Taylor Swift fans.
