FTC Targets Ticket Brokers Accused of Rigging the System

Key Takeaways

• FTC Lawsuit: The FTC sued Maryland-based Key Investment Group and affiliates for allegedly bypassing Ticketmaster’s protections to corner the ticket market.
• Scale of Scheme: The operation allegedly bought nearly 380,000 tickets worth $57 million and resold them for $64 million, profiting millions.
• Swift Example: For one Taylor Swift Eras Tour show, brokers used 49 accounts to grab 273 tickets, far exceeding the six-ticket limit.
• Illegal Tactics: The FTC says the defendants used fake accounts, proxy servers, virtual cards, and SIM boxes to dodge safeguards.
• Legal Grounds: Defendants face claims under the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, with the case now before a Maryland federal court.

Deep Dive

Fans who have stared at a frozen Ticketmaster page only to see “sold out” flashing back minutes later know the frustration. Now, the Federal Trade Commission says that frustration wasn’t always bad luck. It was, at least in part, the work of a Maryland-based ticket broker accused of gaming the system on a massive scale.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Key Investment Group and its web of affiliates ran a scheme that sidestepped Ticketmaster’s safeguards, scooping up nearly 380,000 tickets in just over a year. The playbook was straight out of the scalper’s handbook: fake accounts by the thousands, virtual credit cards, proxy servers to disguise identities, and SIM boxes to handle endless phone verification codes. With those tricks, the operation managed to pluck tickets out of the digital line before ordinary fans had a chance.

The agency says the defendants (who did business under names like Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com, and Totally Tix) spent about $57 million on tickets and turned around to resell them for around $64 million, pocketing millions by marking them up on secondary marketplaces.

For fans, the impact was felt most painfully during Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. In one instance, the FTC alleges, the brokers used 49 accounts to snag 273 tickets to a single concert, blowing past the six-ticket limit like it wasn’t even there. Those tickets later showed up with price tags far higher than face value.

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson was direct when announcing the case.

“President Trump made it clear in his March Executive Order that unscrupulous middlemen who harm fans and jack up prices through anticompetitive methods will hear from us,” Ferguson said. “Today’s action puts brokers on notice that the Trump-Vance FTC will police operations that unlawfully circumvent ticket sellers’ purchase limits, ensuring that consumers have an opportunity to buy tickets at fair prices.”

The complaint names Key Investment Group’s top brass (CEO Yair D. Rozmaryn, CFO Elan N. Rozmaryn, and Chief Strategic Officer Taylor Kurth) accusing them of violating the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. That law makes it illegal to dodge online ticketing safeguards meant to uphold purchase limits and keep the playing field fair.

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