Federal officials announced on Friday that three New York ticket brokers had agreed to pay $ 3.7 million in civil fines to resolve claims that they bought tens of thousands of event tickets and resold them to customers at inflated prices. .
The companies – Just in Time Tickets, Concert Specials and Cartisim Corp., all from Long Island – have been accused of violating the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which aims to prevent brokers from escaping the ticket purchase limits set by online ticket vendors , like Ticketmaster. It also prevents the resale of tickets obtained through conscious involvement in such practices.
The agreements are the first enforcement actions that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission took under the law enacted in 2016.
“Those who violate the BOTS Act deceive fans by forcing them to pay inflated prices to attend concerts, theatrical performances and sporting events,” said Seth D. DuCharme, acting attorney for the New York East District, in a statement. communicated. “This office will spare no effort to prohibit deceptive practices that harm consumers.”
Lawsuits against the three companies, brought by federal prosecutors on Long Island, have accused brokers of reselling thousands of tickets illegally obtained for millions of dollars in revenue between January 1, 2017 and the present day, often with significant increases.
The companies are accused of creating accounts in the name of family members, friends and fictitious individuals and of using hundreds of credit cards to grab the best seats at sporting events and shows.
They are also accused of using ticket bots, or automated software, to evade protections designed to prevent the purchase of non-human tickets and to hide the IP addresses of the computers they were using.
The three companies received higher civil penalties as part of the deal, with Concert Specials agreeing to pay the largest $ 16 million deal. But each was excused from paying the full penalties if they agreed to pay amounts ranging from $ 1.64 million to $ 499,000 and to meet certain additional terms, including submitting compliance reports to the government.
The New York attorney general’s office had already reached $ 2.76 million deals in 2016 with six ticket brokers, following a report that exposed widespread abuses in the New York ticket industry. The report found that bots were in widespread use, with a high-tech money changer buying over 1,000 tickets in less than a minute for a U2 show at Madison Square Garden.
Resale brokers are required to have a state license, but the report found that many do not.
A lawyer representing the three companies declined a request for comment.