Billboard.com
A Georgia-based ticket reseller has agreed to pay a civil penalty after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accused the company of using automated methods and deceptive tactics to secure thousands of high-demand concert tickets before reselling them at inflated prices.
The FTC announced that Elite Events, which operates as SmartScalpers.com, settled alleged violations of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. While the agreement carries a judgment totaling $10.7 million, the agency said the company will pay $300,000 after demonstrating limited financial resources.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Elite Events built its business around bypassing ticket purchasing restrictions imposed by platforms including Ticketmaster and AXS. Those safeguards are designed to limit the number of tickets a single buyer can purchase, intended to distribute tickets more evenly among fans.
Federal regulators allege the company employed overseas workers to purchase tickets using fake email accounts, virtual payment cards and proxy IP addresses to disguise their identities. Investigators say these tactics enabled Elite Events to acquire more than 100,000 tickets for nearly 6,000 live events between 2022 and 2026 before reselling them. Marketplaces such as StubHub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek were utilized to flip them at significantly higher prices.
The complaint cites numerous high-profile tours, including performances by Tate McRae, Megan Moroney, Benson Boone and Metallica. Regulators allege the broker secured more than 1,000 tickets for Benson Boone’s 2024 tour, almost 1,600 seats for Megan Moroney’s 2025 tour, hundreds of tickets for Metallica shows and more than 400 tickets for a single stop on Tate McRae’s Miss Possessive World Tour.
The FTC argues that large-scale ticket purchasing contributed to rapid sellouts, forcing many fans to turn to resale platforms where prices were often two or three times higher than the original face value.
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