Four Wiseguys Indicted in $20M Online Ticket Scam
Four Californian men have been indicted for an online ticketing scam valued at $20 million.
An indictment unsealed yesterday has revealed a huge online ticketing scam run by four men from California. The four men allegedly used a network of computers to buy up tickets to popular concerts, shows and sporting events before reselling them at a profit.
Known collectively as Wiseguy Tickets, the group is said to have used a nationwide network of computers to impersonate thousands of individual shoppers and circumvent security measures put in place by ticket vendors such as Ticketmaster, Tickets.com, MLB.com, MusicToday. Kenneth Lowson, 40; Kristofer Kirsch, 37; Faisal Nahdi, 36, all of Los Angeles; and Joel Stevenson, 37, of Alameda, Calif. are said to have made $20 million from reselling roughly one million tickets to other ticket vendors in New Jersey and other locations.
At various different times in the seven years between 2002 and 2009, the four are said to have operated under the names Wiseguys, Seats of San Fransisco (SOSF), Smaug and Platinunm Technologies.
The group purchased tickets to numerous premium events. In 2005, when 1,000 tickets for the Rose Bowl were released, Wiseguys snapped up 882 of them. They also purchased more than 11,700 tickets to Bruce Springsteen concerts between September 2007 and December of 2007, nearly 2,000 tickets to the Yankees playoffs games, and nearly 12,000 tickets to Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana concerts.
The indictment charges Lowson, Kirsch, Nahdi and Stevenson with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to gain unauthorized access and exceed authorized access to computer systems. There's also 42 additional counts of wire fraud; gaining unauthorized access and exceeding authorized access to computer systems; or causing damage to computers in interstate commerce.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and a maximum of 20 years in prison on each wire fraud charge. In addition, Lowson, Kirsch, and Stevenson face statutory maximum penalties of 5 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each of 19 counts of gaining unauthorized access and exceeding authorized access to computers; and 10 years’ imprisonment for each of six counts charging damage to computers in interstate commerce. Each defendant also faces a fine of $250,000 per count of conviction.
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get rich quick and go to jail later lol... i h8 conn artists
Although rather dirty, I'll give them credit for what they accomplished.
eh?
scalping is illegal?
Not enough info is posted here about the alleged wire fraud, so hard to say if this is actually a big deal. Scalping isnt illegal in most states.
Isn't this exactly what Ticketmaster does on a daily basis?
Their only mistake (broke the law):
"used a nationwide network of computers to impersonate thousands of individual shoppers and circumvent security measures put in place by ticket vendors"
Ie: they are not an authorized vendors & they broke the security measures to purchase tickets more than allowed (I'm assuming there is a limit, who would buy more than say 4? let alone 882).
Go to jail for you, imo.
Scalping isnt illegal in most states.
Scalping may not be illegal but hacking the ticket sale websites is. I know MLB has a very strict EULA that forbids buying over 6 tickets per game online and circumventing that to get 2000 Yankees tickets is both illegal and a dick move to the actual fans that have to pay >2x face value for those tickets on StubHub or eBay.
In MN you can resell tickets on the street, scalping isn't illegal. But that is not what they are charged with.
They intentionally purchased as many tickets through fraudulent means and then sold them for 2X the amount.
So a ticket that the retailer would have sold for $5 would cost you $10.
I read a much longer article in this mornings' Wall Street Journal. Sometimes they hacked into computer systems and sometimes they caused damage. They resold the tickets to ticket brokers for at least $30.00 more than they paid for them. Sometimes they charged a lot more for the tickets. $30.00 doesn't seem like much until you see the totals. Looks like the guys walked away with over $20 million dollars.
The comments made by a lot of people don't tie to the article. How can you say they charged 2x the face value? The article says that they made about 20 million by selling about 1 million tickets. Simple math really: 20 mil divided by 1 mil equals 20. That means, on average, they made $20 per ticket. I've never been to a Yankees game, or a rosebowl for that matter, but I believe those tickets sell for a little more than $20.
jgiron: $5 for a ticket? You're lucky if the Ticketmaster "service" charge is less than $5!
I say throw the book at these asshats. Besides jacking up the prices of individual tickets, they have likely artificially inflated the market price of at least some sports/concert tickets, and prevented fans from seeing their favorite teams/bands. Obviously these parasites didn't care how they got rich; they effectively pickpocketed thousands upon thousands of people.
They should punish them by making them go to Miley Cirus and Hannah Montanna concerts!
I am sick of online scam!
If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to sell the tickets for greater than face value on the ticket.
I didn't know that was illegal... "scalping" seems like simply an accepted part of any event. Events sell out and most of the tickets are people buying them for resale.
busted
*Meanwhile in other parts of the country*
Big banks, steal trillions from unknowing tax paying citizens, and hand out big bonuses to the crooks that made it possible, while at the same time pondering up ways to tax us for the air we breath.
honestly, they arent doing ANYTHING different than ticketmaster does to the u.s. every day. personally, im sick of huge companies taking advantage of consumers, then suing an individual or group for doing the same thing. if these guys get charged, then ticketmaster and other companies doing the same thing should be charged as well.
I hate scalpers...
Those guys were smart... NOT
honestly, they arent doing ANYTHING different than ticketmaster does to the u.s. every day. personally, im sick of huge companies taking advantage of consumers, then suing an individual or group for doing the same thing. if these guys get charged, then ticketmaster and other companies doing the same thing should be charged as well.
yea... but at least the ticketmaster does not make your computer a dummy and buy thickets for them... and that is what those guys were charged for.
I think a sentence to be forced to attend 12,000 Miley Cyrus concerts would be effective.
These guys are asshats. Although they are only doing on a grander scale what those fucktards outside the arena yelling "tickets tickets who wants tickets? I got ticketes right here" are doing. Going to major concnerts grew sour on me when the "service charge" and "convienience fee" for ticketmaster pushed the price of a $37.50 ticket to a Metallica concert to damn near $100,granted the concert was well worth it and they put on a hell of a show but holy christ when the service fees and such make the ticket almost 3x as much as the actual face value? That should be a crime right there.
Sorry, but theres no way they should get 20 years for this. They didn't hurt anybody. They didn't sale anything fake. They simply bypassed certain rules. Drug dealers, molesters, rapist..etc Have gotten less jail time, and all far far far far worse then what they guys did.
They are looking at far more time than 20 years. It is 20 years PER Wire Fraud charge. That does not include the other charges that have fines and possible jail time PER Charge. They may go away and never be heard from again...
You know if one group is doing it how many others are still doing it and haven't been caught.
If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to sell the tickets for greater than face value on the ticket.
I live in Alberta,Canada..
Your statement is true in Alberta, but if you cross the border to B.C. they are allowed to sell tickets @ any price. I believe this law is only provincial/state based and not Federal. It really depends where you are selling them, and where the event takes place.