A Georgia-based ticket brokerage accused of using fake accounts, virtual credit cards, and hundreds of overseas gig workers to corner tens of thousands of concert tickets has agreed to a federal settlement that requires paying just $300,000 of a penalty that could have topped $10.7 million. Elite Events and Tickets LLC, which also does business as Smart Scalpers, and its co-owners Kevin W. McKerley and Aaron L. Fera now face permanent bans on the tactics federal regulators say let them dodge ticket purchase limits for years.
The Federal Trade Commission filed its civil lawsuit against Elite Events and its owners in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, in the court's Augusta Division, according to Atlanta News First. The FTC accuses the company of violating the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, the 2016 federal law that bans using technology to bypass ticket purchase limits, and alleges the firm bought millions of dollars worth of concert tickets in bulk before reselling them at a significant markup.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of the FTC complaint found the operation harvested more than 86,000 tickets across 2,400 events, generating over $3.5 million in resale profits by circumventing purchase controls. The FTC alleged the firm exceeded purchase limits on roughly half of the events it targeted, spanning 250 individual performers, per the same review.
How the Alleged Scheme Worked
According to the FTC complaint, Elite Events used hundreds of fake accounts built with made-up names, phony addresses, and bogus phone numbers, along with thousands of virtual credit card numbers, to make it look like purchases were coming from thousands of individual buyers rather than a single operation. Software allegedly disguised the company's location and made bulk purchases appear to originate from ordinary fans. In one case cited in the complaint, the firm used 75 separate accounts to buy 277 tickets to a single Metallica concert that had a six-ticket-per-person limit.
The AJC also reported that Elite Events recruited hundreds of ticket-purchasing agents in countries such as Egypt and the Philippines through online job postings offering $400 to $600 a week in cash, with co-owner Aaron L. Fera issuing buying instructions through Discord group chats. Those remote agents reportedly ran multi-session browsers and proxy IP addresses to mask their true geographic locations, allowing the operation to spread its purchases across a network that looked nothing like a single scalping outfit.
Big-Name Targets and Bigger Markups
The FTC's complaint says Elite Events targeted high-demand tickets for shows by Georgia country singer Megan Moroney along with pop stars Tate McRae and Benson Boone, using social media analytics tools to track artist popularity and identify tours likely to sell out fast. Tickets the company bought for as little as $50 apiece were resold for up to $400 each, with markups reaching as high as 700% of the original price, according to the FTC. Legal analysis by VitalLaw found the firm regularly resold harvested tickets at markups ranging from 100% to 500% above face value, far beyond the 4-to-8-ticket-per-person limits that issuers like Ticketmaster and AXS set specifically to prevent bulk cornering.
A Fine With an Asterisk
The FTC is seeking more than $10.7 million in civil penalties against Elite Events and its owners, but the proposed settlement suspends $10,458,000 of that total based on sworn financial disclosures showing the defendants' inability to pay, leaving a required payout of just $300,000. That suspended balance becomes due immediately if the owners are found to have misrepresented their finances. FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige said Elite Events utilized unlawful tactics to deprive ordinary consumers of the opportunity to purchase event tickets at face-value prices set by issuers, adding that officials say such buying tactics artificially drive up prices across secondary ticket exchanges.
Under the proposed settlement, Elite Events and its owners are permanently prohibited from circumventing security measures to exceed ticket purchase limits, using multiple accounts or IP addresses to bypass purchasing rules, or buying tickets with payment accounts not in their own names. The settlement resolves claims tied to conduct between 2022 and 2025.
A Rare Federal Crackdown
Federal enforcement under the decade-old BOTS Act has been unusual: after a single action in January 2021 against three New York ticket brokers, the Elite Events case marks just the second major FTC enforcement wave under the law, according to Eventcloud. Industry analysts note that both enforcement waves resulted in judgments largely suspended due to brokers' reported inability to pay, raising questions about whether the penalties deter future scalping operations that can generate millions in resale profits. Lawmakers have tried to close gaps in the law before: in November 2023, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján introduced the bipartisan MAIN Event Ticketing Act aimed at strengthening FTC enforcement powers, building on Blackburn's earlier role co-authoring the original 2016 BOTS Act.
Elite Events has denied intentionally violating the law and disagrees with characterizations of its conduct, though the company has not admitted or denied the FTC's specific allegations. The broker previously appeared in a 2025 broadcast segment on CBS Saturday Morning to discuss its ticket reselling business model and secondary market acquisition strategies, before facing federal charges the following year. The company says it launched the free Trufan portal, which offers educational resources on ticket purchasing, tips for navigating high-demand on-sale events, and guidance on avoiding scams and fraudulent sellers, and it has said it supports efforts that improve transparency, strengthen consumer confidence, and create a fairer marketplace.
Consumers who suspect they have purchased illegally obtained scalper tickets can report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov. As a general guide, resale listings priced more than 20 to 30% above face value are likely marked up. Hoodline previously reported on ticket scalping schemes exploiting secondary markets, underscoring that the tactics alleged against Elite Events fit a broader pattern regulators have struggled to contain.
