There has been another win in the fight against fraudulent ticket sellers. In the first order under the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, three New York based ticket resellers have been handed civil penalties totally more than $30m USD. US authorities accused Just in Time Tickets, Inc., Cartisim Corp., and Concert Specials, Inc., and their owners, of using bots to purchase concert and sports events tickets and then sell them at inflated prices in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC alleged that the defendants purchased more than 150,000 tickets from Ticketmaster that were then resold for millions of dollars in revenues. The defendants were alleged to have circumvented the legitimate ticketing agent’s restrictions on users holding multiple accounts by creating accounts in the names of family members, friends, and fictitious individuals, and using hundreds of different credit cards.
According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), they also used ticket bots to fool tests designed to prevent non-human visitors. In addition, it was claimed that the alleged parties used programs to conceal the IP addresses of the computers they used to make purchases.
The actions of second-hand ticket sellers mean that thousands of loyal fans miss our on the chance to see their favourite performers and doesn’t just effect Americans. Back in 2017, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took controversial reseller Viagogo AG to court after it claimed they were making false or misleading representations to consumers. The case came to a successful close in October 2020 when the Federal Court ordered Viagogo to pay a penalty of $7 million for breaching Australian Consumer Law when reselling tickets for live music and sport events.
Every time a ticket is purchased from a scalping website or unreliable seller, consumers are putting themselves at risk of losing money and losing out on events. At RAC Arena we hate the thought of fans missing the chance to make memories and see their heroes live. Our only authorised ticket seller is Ticketek, and we strongly recommend only purchasing through them.
The ACCC published a guide for consumers on how to purchase event tickets with confidence at buying tickets online.
Consumers with queries about their state or territory’s ticket reselling laws should contact their state of territory’s fair trading or consumer affairs agency.
