BY Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Monday, March 1st 2010, 2:08 PM
Updated: Monday, March 1st 2010, 2:08 PM
Roland/AP
Seats to big name concerts, like Bruce Springsteen and Hannah Montana, were among those grabbed by an online hacker gang, according to feds.
Jamie Squire
The scalpers at Wiseguy Tickets allegedly nabbed $25 million in the scam.
Four California men were busted Monday for hacking into online ticket sellers like Ticketmaster and grabbing up 1.5 million prime seats for concerts and ball games - shutting out ordinary fans.
Calling themselves Wiseguy Tickets, the four men pulled in more than $25 million between 2006 and 2009 by using computer tricks to virtually muscle their way to the head of the line when an online sale began.
They were so successful that they became "the leading source of the best tickets for the most popular events," according to a 43-count federal indictment unsealed in New Jersey.
For one July 2008 performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium, Wiseguys purchased nearly half of the most desirable general admission floor tickets near the stage.
The racket blocked ordinary fans from buying face value tickets, forcing them to turn to scalpers and price-gouging ticket brokers, officials said.
The scam worked so well that one of their associates sent an email worrying that "the general public may snap" and suggesting that the scammers commission a poll of ordinary ticket buyers to see "how much more they can handle."
The defendants allegedly bought up thousands of tickets, which they sold at a steep mark-up - as much as $1,000 per ducat - to ticket brokers, who then jacked the price again before selling them to fans.
"The public thought it had a fair shot at getting tickets to these events, but what the public didn't know was that the defendants had cheated them out of that opportunity," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Among the events the men targeted were concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Hannah Montana, Bon Jovi, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Phish, AC/DC and Coldplay, prosecutors said.
They also bought up tickets to Broadway shows like "Wicked" and "The Producers," the 2006 Rose Bowl, the 2007 Major League Baseball playoff games at Yankee Stadium, and even tapings of the TV show "Dancing with the Stars."
The companies hacked include Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Tickets.com, Music Today, Telecharge and Major League Baseball.
"It's disgraceful that this situation went on for as long as it did, depriving fans of seeing performers whom they support," said Camille DeSantis, a New Yorker still steaming she was shut out of an online sale for Ringo Starr tickets at Radio City Music Hall.
"Within 10 seconds [or less] they said they didn't even have one ticket left," she said.
"I frankly think the entire system has been broken and fixing it has to extend beyond the prosecution of these four guys."
Authorities in Newark charged Kenneth Lowson, 40, Kristofer Kirsch, 37, Faisal Nahdi, 36, and Joel Stevenson, 37, in the scheme.
The four allegedly hired a hacker in Bulgaria to program a way around the CAPTCHA technology that requires ticket buyers to read and re-type two distorted random words to prove they are a person, not a computer program.
In a spectacular irony, the defendents managed to take a process meant to distinguish between a human and a machine - and automate it.
The indictment alleges they even programmed their bots to make mistakes, to make them appear to be human buyers.
When the bots swarmed a Web site, they were able to fill out CAPTCHA fields faster than any human.
If convicted, each Wiseguy Tickets defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each charge, as well as a fine of $250,000 per count.
"Unfortunately for the defendants, they are the FBI's first example of what happens to criminals when we combine the talent and resources in our white collar and cybercrime programs," said Edward Kahrer, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Newark.
"As technology and the world move forward, the FBI will endeavor to remain one step ahead."
The probe began after howls of outrage went up last year when Bruce Springsteen fans complained all tickets were gone within seconds, only to be immediately listed on re-sale sites at steep markups.
Ticketmaster was slapped by state authorities in New Jersey for sending customers to its own reseller, TicketsNow, and agreed to quit the practice and offer Springsteen fans refunds. It settled with charges of deceptive sales tactics with the Federal Trade Commission just last month.
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Monday, March 1st 2010, 2:08 PM
Updated: Monday, March 1st 2010, 2:08 PM
Roland/APSeats to big name concerts, like Bruce Springsteen and Hannah Montana, were among those grabbed by an online hacker gang, according to feds.
Jamie SquireThe scalpers at Wiseguy Tickets allegedly nabbed $25 million in the scam.
Four California men were busted Monday for hacking into online ticket sellers like Ticketmaster and grabbing up 1.5 million prime seats for concerts and ball games - shutting out ordinary fans.
Calling themselves Wiseguy Tickets, the four men pulled in more than $25 million between 2006 and 2009 by using computer tricks to virtually muscle their way to the head of the line when an online sale began.
They were so successful that they became "the leading source of the best tickets for the most popular events," according to a 43-count federal indictment unsealed in New Jersey.
For one July 2008 performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium, Wiseguys purchased nearly half of the most desirable general admission floor tickets near the stage.
The racket blocked ordinary fans from buying face value tickets, forcing them to turn to scalpers and price-gouging ticket brokers, officials said.
The scam worked so well that one of their associates sent an email worrying that "the general public may snap" and suggesting that the scammers commission a poll of ordinary ticket buyers to see "how much more they can handle."
The defendants allegedly bought up thousands of tickets, which they sold at a steep mark-up - as much as $1,000 per ducat - to ticket brokers, who then jacked the price again before selling them to fans.
"The public thought it had a fair shot at getting tickets to these events, but what the public didn't know was that the defendants had cheated them out of that opportunity," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Among the events the men targeted were concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Hannah Montana, Bon Jovi, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Phish, AC/DC and Coldplay, prosecutors said.
They also bought up tickets to Broadway shows like "Wicked" and "The Producers," the 2006 Rose Bowl, the 2007 Major League Baseball playoff games at Yankee Stadium, and even tapings of the TV show "Dancing with the Stars."
The companies hacked include Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Tickets.com, Music Today, Telecharge and Major League Baseball.
"It's disgraceful that this situation went on for as long as it did, depriving fans of seeing performers whom they support," said Camille DeSantis, a New Yorker still steaming she was shut out of an online sale for Ringo Starr tickets at Radio City Music Hall.
"Within 10 seconds [or less] they said they didn't even have one ticket left," she said.
"I frankly think the entire system has been broken and fixing it has to extend beyond the prosecution of these four guys."
Authorities in Newark charged Kenneth Lowson, 40, Kristofer Kirsch, 37, Faisal Nahdi, 36, and Joel Stevenson, 37, in the scheme.
The four allegedly hired a hacker in Bulgaria to program a way around the CAPTCHA technology that requires ticket buyers to read and re-type two distorted random words to prove they are a person, not a computer program.
In a spectacular irony, the defendents managed to take a process meant to distinguish between a human and a machine - and automate it.
The indictment alleges they even programmed their bots to make mistakes, to make them appear to be human buyers.
When the bots swarmed a Web site, they were able to fill out CAPTCHA fields faster than any human.
If convicted, each Wiseguy Tickets defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each charge, as well as a fine of $250,000 per count.
"Unfortunately for the defendants, they are the FBI's first example of what happens to criminals when we combine the talent and resources in our white collar and cybercrime programs," said Edward Kahrer, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Newark.
"As technology and the world move forward, the FBI will endeavor to remain one step ahead."
The probe began after howls of outrage went up last year when Bruce Springsteen fans complained all tickets were gone within seconds, only to be immediately listed on re-sale sites at steep markups.
Ticketmaster was slapped by state authorities in New Jersey for sending customers to its own reseller, TicketsNow, and agreed to quit the practice and offer Springsteen fans refunds. It settled with charges of deceptive sales tactics with the Federal Trade Commission just last month.
