Latest news with #KeyInvestmentGroup
The Verge
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Verge
Ticket reseller sued for illegally buying over 2,000 Taylor Swift tickets
The Federal Trade Commission is suing a ticket broker for allegedly using 'illegal means' to buy up hundreds of thousands of live event tickets, including for Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Key Investment Group, which also does business as Epic Seats, and Totally Tix, is accused of violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act by using virtual and traditional credit card numbers, along with spoofed IP addresses, fake accounts it paid real people to make, and banks of SIM cards used to receive verification texts to numbers it controlled, to get around security protections. Key Investment Group then allegedly resold these tickets on secondary ticket-selling sites and Ticketmaster's resale platform to people who couldn't beat its alleged army of accounts to buy them directly. The FTC's lawsuit is part of a broader clampdown on live event ticket sellers in the US. In the lawsuit filed on Monday, the FTC claims Key Investment Group bought $57 million worth of tickets from Ticketmaster in just over one year, while reselling them at a 'significant markup' for $64 million. The reseller allegedly purchased 2,280 of Swift's Eras Tour tickets from March to August 2023 for nearly $745,000 and resold them for around $1.9 million. In one instance, the FTC claims Key Investment Group used 49 accounts to buy 273 tickets to Taylor Swift's March 25th concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2023, 'dramatically exceeding' the six-ticket limit. Key Investment Group refutes the lawsuit in a statement released on Monday, saying the FTC has 'twisted the intent' of the BOTS Act and is using it as a 'weapon' targeting business and consumers. 'Under the FTC's interpretation, anyone who purchases more than four tickets or uses more than one account could be deemed in violation of federal law,' Key Investment Group claims. 'The FTC misleadingly characterizes KIG's [Key Investment Group] use of standard internet browsers to purchase tickets as equivalent to deploying unlawful software.' Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Emma Roth Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Politics Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Regulation
CBS News
20 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Thousands of tickets to Taylor Swift and other events illegally resold by broker, FTC alleges
A Maryland ticket broker is accused of illegally purchasing and reselling hundreds of thousands of tickets for profit, including thousands to Taylor Swift's highly-sought Eras Tour. The Federal Trade Commission is suing Key Investment Group, saying the company made millions of dollars in profit from reselling the ticket at inflated prices. The lawsuit, filed Monday, Aug. 18, in U.S. District Court in Maryland, accuses the company and its affiliates of bypassing Ticketmaster's security measures designed to block resellers from violating ticket-purchase limits. Key Investment Group also did business under the names Epic Seats, LLC, and Totally Tix LLC, according to the complaint. The FTC alleges that, in a one year period, the group purchased at least 379,776 tickets from Ticketmaster at a cost of nearly $57 million. The company then allegedly resold those tickets on secondary marketplaces for about $64 million. CBS Baltimore has reached out to Key Investment Group for comment. Between March and August of 2023, Key Investment Group allegedly purchased ten or more tickets to 38 Taylor Swift concerts, totaling 2,280 tickets, according to the complaint. The FTC says the company made more than $1.2 million in profit reselling those tickets. For just one Taylor Swift show, the defendants allegedly used 49 different accounts to buy 273 tickets. The Eras Tour had a six-ticket purchase limit per customer, per event. Among other events the FTC alleges were targeted was a 2023 Bruce Springsteen concert in New Jersey. Despite a four-ticket limit, the defendants allegedly purchased and resold more than 1,500 tickets. According to the FTC, the group used thousands of Ticketmaster accounts, both fictitious and third-party accounts it had purchased, to bypass security measures and purchase the tickets. The company is also accused of using thousands of credit card numbers, including virtual card numbers, spoofing IP addresses to hide the identity of the ticket purchaser, and using SIM technology to collect the incoming verification codes. In doing so, the FTC said the brokers violated the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which prohibits people from "circumventing a security measure, access control system, or other technological control or measure on an internet website or online service that is used by the ticket issuer to enforce posted event ticket limits or to maintain the integrity of posted online ticket purchasing order rules."
Epoch Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
FTC Sues Ticket Broker for Allegedly Exceeding Purchase Limit for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Key Investment Group and its affiliated companies on Aug. 18, alleging that they evaded ticket purchase limits for live events—such as Taylor Swift's Eras Tour—and resold those tickets at inflated prices. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the Maryland-based ticket broker and its affiliated companies—which operate under brand names such as Epic Seats and Totally Tix—used thousands of fake Ticketmaster accounts and other illegal tactics to bypass security measures designed to prevent buyers from exceeding ticket purchasing limits.
a day ago
- Business
FTC sues ticket reseller, saying it illegally exceeded purchase limits for Taylor Swift, other shows
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday against a ticket broker, alleging the company used illegal tactics to exceed purchasing limits for popular events and then resold tickets at significantly higher prices. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland, the FTC said Maryland-based ticket broker Key Investment Group has used thousands of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts and other methods to buy tickets for events, including Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. According to the FTC, Key Investment Group – which does business under brand names like Epic Seats and Totally Tix – purchased at least 379,776 tickets from Ticketmaster between Nov. 1, 2022, and Dec. 30, 2023. The company spent nearly $57 million to buy the tickets and resold them on secondary marketplaces for approximately $64 million. For just one Taylor Swift concert, Key Investment Group allegedly used 49 different accounts to purchase 273 tickets, dramatically exceeding the Eras Tour's 2023 six-ticket purchase limit per event, the FTC said. Fans were so frustrated by the difficulty getting tickets for Swift's tour that the U.S. Senate wound up grilling Ticketmaster in a 2023 hearing. In a statement released Monday, Key Investment Group said it will vigorously defend itself against the FTC's lawsuit. 'The case threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry's largest monopoly,' the company said. Key Investment Group said the FTC is misapplying the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, a 2016 law which it said was meant to target malicious software, not legitimate resale businesses. Key Investment Group sued the FTC in July to try to prevent the agency from using the law against it, saying it uses human employees — not bots — to buy tickets. But the FTC said that law also prohibits anyone from circumventing security measures and other controls meant to enforce posted ticket limits. In March, with Kid Rock by his side in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. officials to ensure ticket resellers are complying with Internal Revenue Service rules. The order also directed the FTC to ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and to 'take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market."
The Hill
a day ago
- Business
- The Hill
FTC sues ticket reseller, saying it illegally exceeded purchase limits for Taylor Swift, other shows
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday against a ticket broker, alleging the company used illegal tactics to exceed purchasing limits for popular events and then resold tickets at significantly higher prices. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland, the FTC said Maryland-based ticket broker Key Investment Group has used thousands of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts and other methods to buy tickets for events, including Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. According to the FTC, Key Investment Group – which does business under brand names like Epic Seats and Totally Tix – purchased at least 379,776 tickets from Ticketmaster between Nov. 1, 2022, and Dec. 30, 2023. The company spent nearly $57 million to buy the tickets and resold them on secondary marketplaces for approximately $64 million. For just one Taylor Swift concert, Key Investment Group allegedly used 49 different accounts to purchase 273 tickets, dramatically exceeding the Eras Tour's 2023 six-ticket purchase limit per event, the FTC said. Fans were so frustrated by the difficulty getting tickets for Swift's tour that the U.S. Senate wound up grilling Ticketmaster in a 2023 hearing. In a statement released Monday, Key Investment Group said it will vigorously defend itself against the FTC's lawsuit. 'The case threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry's largest monopoly,' the company said. Key Investment Group said the FTC is misapplying the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, a 2016 law which it said was meant to target malicious software, not legitimate resale businesses. Key Investment Group sued the FTC in July to try to prevent the agency from using the law against it, saying it uses human employees — not bots — to buy tickets. But the FTC said that law also prohibits anyone from circumventing security measures and other controls meant to enforce posted ticket limits. In March, with Kid Rock by his side in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. officials to ensure ticket resellers are complying with Internal Revenue Service rules. The order also directed the FTC to ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and to 'take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market.'
