A Georgia-based ticket broker will pay $300,000 in civil penalties to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS Act) by using automated software to bypass ticket purchasing limits for thousands of events.
Elite Events, which also operates as SmartScalpers and through the website smartscalpers.com, was accused by the FTC of employing “unlawful tactics” to acquire tickets and resell them at a profit. The agency’s complaint detailed how the company used hundreds of fictitious purchasing accounts, virtual credit card numbers, IP proxy services, and multi-session browsers to circumvent per-person ticket caps for 2,400 events.
In one example cited by the FTC, the broker deployed 75 accounts to secure 277 tickets for a Metallica concert in Virginia. The proposed settlement order imposes a $10.7 million civil penalty, with all but $300,000 suspended. The full amount becomes due if the company’s principals, Kevin W. McKerley and Aaron L. Vera, are found to have misrepresented their financial condition. The order also permanently bars Elite Events from the conduct alleged in the complaint.
