The Weekly Breach Breakdown Podcast by ITRC - Bad Actors Make Over $600K from Taylor Swift Ticket Scam - S6E9

Show Transcript

Welcome to the Identity Theft Resource Center's (ITRC’s) Weekly Breach Breakdown for March 21, 2025. I'm Alex Achten, Senior Director of Communications & Media Relations of the ITRC. Thanks to Sentilink for supporting the ITRC and this podcast. Each week, we look at the most recent events and trends related to data security and privacy. Do we have any Taylor Swift fans that listen to the podcast? I am sure we do. If so, some of you probably attended the highly successful Eras Tour, jamming out to songs like “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak,” “Lover,” “Fearless,” and “Love Story.” You weren’t the only one taking in the tunes. Apparently, so were the bad actors due to a well-executed Taylor Swift ticket scam. 

According to Security Boulevard, a group hacked into StubHub’s computer system and stole over 900 digital event tickets, most of them to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour that ended in December 2024. The hackers made more than $600,000 by reselling the tickets on StubHub. The Queens District Attorney’s Office reports that two people involved were arrested and arraigned in New York City and charged with grand larceny, computer tampering and conspiracy. At least one more person is being sought in Jamaica.  

You might be asking, 'How did this happen?' Great question. It was a Taylor Swift ticket scam that involved employees working for a third-party contractor in Jamaica who had access to the ticket vendor’s computer system. Sometime between June 2022 and July 2023, they used a backdoor to gain entrance into the network, which was used to distribute tickets that were already sold and prepare them to be emailed to the buyers for download.  

This Taylor Swift ticket scam is just the latest case in ongoing concerns about stolen and resold event tickets from online sites. With summer approaching, the number of outdoor concerts, music festivals and big-name concert tours will increase. It is a great time to remind everyone to watch out for ticket scams. The internet is flooded with everything from scalpers who overcharge for a legitimate ticket to bogus sites that steal your personal information and sell you a non-existent ticket.  

One of the ways to avoid ticket scams is to be cautious when you receive emails that contain tickets or steps to retrieve your tickets. If you receive any emails regarding tickets that you are not expecting, go back to the source directly to verify the validity of the message.  

Businesses can use the Taylor Swift ticket scam as a reason to strengthen their security against ticket theft and adopt advanced technologies, like blockchain, to ensure authenticity and reduce the risk of fraud. Data analytics can be used to identify patterns in ticket theft to create strategies for recovering lost revenue. Clear ticket validation processes and report protocols can also be helpful, along with educating customers about safe ticket purchasing practices.  

If you want to know more about how to protect your business or personal information, the Taylor Swift ticket scam, other ticket scams, or think you have been the victim of an identity crime, you can speak with an expert ITRC advisor on the phone, via text message, chat live on the web, or exchange emails during our normal business hours (6 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started. 

Thanks again to Sentilink for their support of the ITRC and this podcast. Please hit the like button for this episode and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.  

Next week, be sure to tune in to our Fraudian Slip podcast, where we will hear audio from a spotlight session titled “Perspectives from an Identity Theft Victim.” ITRC CEO Eva Velasquez sat down with identity crime victim Linda Matchan of the Boston Globe to discuss her victimization experience. The session was held in January at the Identity, Authentication, and the Road Ahead Cybersecurity Policy Forum hosted by the Better Identity Coalition, the FIDO Alliance and the ITRC. 

We will return in two weeks with another episode of the Weekly Breach Breakdown. I'm Alex Achten. Until then, thanks for listening.