Taylor Swift performs at The Eras Tour.

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

Ticketmaster says it’s cracking down after the Federal Trade Commission accused a Maryland ticket broker of using fake accounts to scoop up Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets and resell them for massive markups.

The company will now limit “everyone and every entity” to just one account, Live Nation executive Daniel M. Wall said in a letter to Congress obtained by Deadline.

“The emotional force of the FTC’s lawsuit comes from the fact that some ticket brokers today simply have too many accounts,” Wall wrote. “What started as a reasonable and acceptable level of behavior has been abused... It’s unfair to artists and fans and it is time to do something about it.”

Wall said AI tools and identity checks will help block resellers trying to game the system. Duplicate accounts will be canceled, and every reseller will need a taxpayer ID number to post tickets.

The FTC lawsuit targets Key Investment Group and its affiliated resale sites — Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com LLC, and Totally Tix LLC — accusing the brokers of using “unlawful tactics to exceed ticket purchasing limits” and “generate millions in revenue.”

According to the complaint, the group allegedly used thousands of Ticketmaster accounts, virtual credit cards, spoofed IP addresses, and SIM boxes to bypass security codes meant to stop bots and scalpers.

In just over a year, the brokers bought nearly 380,000 tickets from Ticketmaster, paying about $57 million and reselling them for $64 million — roughly $7 million in profit, investigators said.

For one Taylor Swift concert, the group allegedly used 49 accounts to buy 273 tickets, despite a six-ticket limit.

“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,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “Today’s action puts brokers on notice.”

In an Aug. 18 press release, Key Investment Group (KIG) said it will “vigorously defend itself” against the lawsuit, calling it “a clear example of regulatory overreach.”

“The case threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry’s largest monopoly,” KIG said.

The company accused the FTC of “twisting the intent” of the BOTS Act, claiming it was meant to stop software, not human buyers.

“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,” the company said. “That outcome is not only illogical, it is absurd.”

KIG said the FTC’s portrayal of its practices is “both deceptive and malicious.”