FTC sues ticket brokers who bought 2,280 Taylor Swift tickets illegally

The Federal Trade Commission filed a major lawsuit on August 18, 2025, against a Maryland ticket broker operation that illegally purchased thousands of Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets using fake accounts and sophisticated technology to bypass Ticketmaster's security systems.

Key Investment Group LLC and its executives face federal charges for purchasing 379,776 tickets worth nearly $57 million between November 2022 and December 2023. The company specifically targeted high-demand events like Taylor Swift concerts, where they bought 2,280 tickets across 38 Eras Tour shows and resold them for over $1.9 million.

The lawsuit targets Key Investment Group CEO Yair D. Rozmaryn, CFO Elan N. Rozmaryn, and Chief Strategic Officer Taylor Kurth, along with affiliated companies operating under names like Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com, and Totally Tix. The operation generated approximately $64 million in resale revenue by marking up tickets far above face value.

How the Taylor Swift ticket scheme worked

The defendants used multiple illegal methods to circumvent Ticketmaster's purchase limits designed to give regular fans fair access to tickets. For Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which had a six-ticket limit per person, the brokers deployed dozens of fake accounts for single concerts.

At Taylor Swift's March 25, 2023 concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the brokers used 49 different fake Ticketmaster accounts to purchase 273 tickets. They paid $744,970 for these tickets and resold them for $1,961,980, making over $1.2 million in profit from Taylor Swift concerts alone.

The operation created thousands of fake Ticketmaster accounts using made-up names, addresses, and phone numbers. Between November 2020 and January 2024, they created over 13,000 fake accounts. Many used obviously fictitious names and contact information that had no connection to real people.

They also used thousands of different credit card numbers, including virtual cards, to avoid Ticketmaster's systems that track payment methods. Since Ticketmaster monitors credit cards to prevent people from buying too many tickets, the brokers constantly rotated through different payment methods.

Advanced technology enabled massive ticket purchases

The defendants used sophisticated technical tools that went far beyond what regular fans could access. They employed proxy servers to hide their real internet addresses, making it appear as if ticket purchases came from different locations across the country.

Most notably, they used devices called SIM banks or SIM boxes, which house dozens of phone SIM cards simultaneously. When Ticketmaster sent verification codes to phone numbers to confirm account ownership, these devices automatically collected the codes for thousands of fake accounts.

The brokers also used computer software specifically designed to bypass Ticketmaster's security measures. These tools allowed them to purchase tickets much faster and in greater volume than consumers using normal methods.

The crowdsourcing operation

Beyond creating their own fake accounts, the defendants recruited ordinary people to help expand their operation. They distributed physical flyers in Baltimore promising easy money for creating fake accounts.

The flyers instructed participants to create new Gmail accounts "with a generic name," then use those emails to create Ticketmaster accounts. Participants received $5 for account creation and additional payments ranging from $5 to $20 each time they received special presale codes.

This crowdsourcing approach allowed them to acquire hundreds of additional accounts from people who likely had no idea they were participating in an illegal scheme.

Evidence of knowing violations

Court documents show the defendants clearly knew they were breaking the rules. In February 2024, after learning the FTC was investigating, a Key Investment Group representative using the fake name "Luis Koch" contacted Ticketmaster customer service.

The email explicitly admitted to violating purchase policies: "I am a Ticket Broker and I purchased 61 tickets for the Bad Bunny show... This exceeded the ticket limit stated on the event page which allows a maximum of 6 tickets to be purchased."

The message listed 19 different fake accounts used for the single concert, with email addresses like "harry.watson53@stockymail.com" and "cora.osborne38@craggymail.com" that were obviously created specifically for ticket purchasing.

Financial scale and consumer impact

The numbers reveal the massive scale of the operation. For just Taylor Swift concerts, the defendants:

• Purchased 2,280 tickets across 38 Eras Tour shows
• Spent $744,970 on ticket purchases
• Resold tickets for $1,961,980
• Made $1,217,010 in profit from Taylor Swift alone

For a single Bruce Springsteen concert at MetLife Stadium, they used 277 different accounts to buy 1,530 tickets, far exceeding the four-ticket limit, and made over $20,000 in profit.

The FTC argues this harmed regular consumers who couldn't buy tickets at face value. Instead of being available to fans through normal channels, these tickets only became available on secondary markets at inflated prices.

Legal framework and enforcement history

The case relies on the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which Congress passed in December 2016 specifically to address ticket bot problems. The law makes it illegal to "circumvent a security measure, access control system, or other technological control" used by ticket sellers to enforce purchase limits.

Defendant Taylor Kurth had previous legal trouble for similar activities. In February 2018, he entered a consent agreement with Washington State for using software to circumvent Ticketmaster's security systems. Despite this legal precedent, he and his co-defendants continued the same practices.

Internal Ticketmaster documents from 2018 show the company already knew about Key Investment Group's massive fake account operation. A PowerPoint presentation revealed that by September 2018, Key Investment Group controlled more than 3,100 fake Ticketmaster accounts.

Broader regulatory context

This enforcement action fits into a pattern of increased FTC scrutiny across digital markets. The agency has launched Operation AI Comply targeting companies that use artificial intelligence for deceptive practices. Recent investigationshave also targeted media rating organizations and advertising industry coordination.

The FTC has partnered with the Department of Justice to identify regulations that reduce market competition. Privacy enforcement has also intensified, with California securing its largest privacy settlement for $1.55 million against Healthline Media.

For the marketing industry, these enforcement actions signal increased regulatory attention to automated systems that manipulate digital marketplaces. Companies using sophisticated technology to gain unfair advantages face growing legal risks.

What the FTC wants

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson emphasized the political priority behind this enforcement. "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 stated.

The Commission seeks permanent court orders preventing future violations and civil penalties for each violation of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act. Given the hundreds of thousands of tickets involved, potential penalties could reach substantial amounts.

The case sends a clear message to other ticket broker operations using similar methods. Advanced technology that enables unfair market advantages will face federal enforcement, particularly when it harms consumers trying to access popular entertainment events.

Why this matters for fans

The Taylor Swift ticket situation illustrates broader problems with automated purchasing systems that give professional resellers advantages over regular fans. When brokers can use dozens of fake accounts and specialized software, ordinary consumers competing for the same tickets face an unwinnable battle.

The FTC's action aims to level the playing field by enforcing rules designed to ensure fair access. If successful, the case could deter other operations using similar methods and potentially improve ticket availability for legitimate fans.

However, the case also reveals how sophisticated these operations have become. The defendants used technology and coordination that would be difficult for most people to detect or understand, highlighting the challenges facing both consumers and regulators in digital marketplaces.

Timeline

• October 2016 - Key Investment Group begins using illegal methods to bypass Ticketmaster security
• December 2016 - Congress passes Better Online Ticket Sales Act prohibiting ticket bots
• February 2018 - Taylor Kurth enters legal agreement with Washington State for ticket bot violations
• September 2018 - Ticketmaster identifies 3,100+ fake Key Investment Group accounts
• November 2020-January 2024 - Defendants create over 13,000 fake Ticketmaster accounts
• March-August 2023 - 2,280 Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets purchased across 38 concerts using fake accounts
• November 2022-December 2023 - 379,776 total tickets purchased for nearly $57 million
• February 2024 - Key Investment Group admits violating Bad Bunny concert ticket limits in email to Ticketmaster
• August 18, 2025 - FTC files federal lawsuit in Maryland court

PPC Land explains

Fake Accounts: These are Ticketmaster user profiles created with completely fictitious information including made-up names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The defendants created over 13,000 of these accounts to circumvent ticket purchase limits. Instead of using real identities, they employed names like "harry.watson53@stockymail.com" and "cora.osborne38@craggymail.com" that were obviously fabricated. Each fake account could purchase up to the ticket limit, allowing the brokers to buy far more tickets than intended by Ticketmaster's fair access policies.

Ticket Purchase Limits: These are restrictions imposed by Ticketmaster and event organizers to ensure fair access to popular events. For example, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour had a six-ticket limit per person, while Bruce Springsteen concerts had a four-ticket limit. These limits prevent any single individual from buying excessive quantities that would disadvantage other fans. The defendants systematically violated these limits by using multiple fake accounts to purchase hundreds of tickets for single events.

SIM Banks: Also called SIM boxes, these are specialized devices that can house dozens of phone SIM cards simultaneously. When Ticketmaster sends verification codes to phone numbers to confirm account ownership, SIM banks automatically collect these codes for hundreds of fake accounts at once. This technology allowed the defendants to bypass security measures that would normally require manual verification for each account, enabling automated purchasing at massive scale.

Proxy Servers: These are intermediary computer systems that hide a user's real internet address (IP address) and location. The defendants used proxy services to make their ticket purchases appear to come from different locations across the country, even though they were actually operating from Maryland. This prevented Ticketmaster's security systems from detecting that hundreds of purchases were coming from the same source.

Better Online Ticket Sales Act: This federal law, passed by Congress in December 2016, specifically prohibits using technology to circumvent ticket seller security measures. The law makes it illegal to bypass access controls designed to enforce purchase limits or maintain fair ticket buying processes. Violations can result in civil penalties and permanent court orders preventing future illegal activities.

Secondary Markets: These are platforms where tickets are resold after the initial sale, typically at prices higher than face value. The defendants purchased tickets through Ticketmaster's primary market using illegal methods, then resold them on secondary marketplaces for substantial profits. For Taylor Swift concerts, they turned $744,970 in purchases into $1,961,980 in secondary market sales.

Verification Codes: These are security measures Ticketmaster uses to confirm that account holders are real people. When suspicious activity is detected, Ticketmaster sends text messages with special codes to the phone numbers associated with accounts. Users must enter these codes to complete purchases. The defendants used SIM banks to automatically collect thousands of these codes, defeating this security measure.

Face Value: This refers to the original price set by the event organizer and ticket seller, before any markups by resellers. The defendants' scheme prevented regular fans from purchasing tickets at face value through legitimate channels. Instead, consumers could only access these tickets on secondary markets at inflated prices, sometimes double or triple the original cost.

IP Addresses: These are unique numerical identifiers assigned to devices connected to the internet, similar to a postal address for computer networks. Ticketmaster monitors IP addresses to prevent multiple purchases from the same location for the same event. The defendants used proxy services to constantly change their apparent IP addresses, making hundreds of purchases appear to come from different people in different locations.

Federal Trade Commission: The FTC is the federal agency responsible for protecting consumers and enforcing laws against unfair business practices. In this case, the FTC filed the lawsuit because the defendants' actions harmed consumers by making tickets unavailable at fair prices. The agency has authority to seek civil penalties and court orders to stop illegal practices that damage competition and consumer access to goods and services.

Summary

Who: The Federal Trade Commission sued Key Investment Group LLC and executives Yair D. Rozmaryn, Elan N. Rozmaryn, and Taylor Kurth for operating an illegal ticket broker scheme that specifically targeted Taylor Swift Eras Tour concerts and other high-demand events.

What: The defendants used thousands of fake Ticketmaster accounts, proxy servers, SIM banks, and automated software to illegally purchase 379,776 tickets worth $57 million, including 2,280 Taylor Swift tickets that they resold for over $1.9 million in profit.

When: The illegal activities occurred from October 2016 through the present, with detailed evidence covering November 2022 through December 2023. The FTC filed the lawsuit on August 18, 2025.

Where: The Maryland-based operation worked nationwide, purchasing tickets for events across the country including Taylor Swift's Las Vegas concert where they used 49 fake accounts to buy 273 tickets for a single show.

Why: The defendants wanted to make millions in profits by circumventing ticket purchase limits that protect fair access for regular fans, then reselling tickets at inflated prices on secondary markets where consumers had no choice but to pay premium amounts.