Battling the Bots: The Tough Fight Against Ticket Fraud

The ticketing industry has long been plagued by fraud, but the rapid advancement of technology in the past decade has given criminal entities the tools needed to create massive chaos in the business. With the help of multiple IDs and ticketing “bots,” fraudsters are now able to purchase tickets at an industrial scale and then illegally sell them on to secondary markets for exorbitant prices. The disruptive activity leads to a big win for fraudsters and a major loss for fans, who end up paying excessively inflated ticket prices to see their favorite sports, musical and other entertainment stars live.

Consequently, consumers around the world are losing trust in the industry. The majority of people in the U.K. for example report being unable to distinguish between authorized primary ticket sellers and unauthorized secondary sites, with 80% reporting they’ve been fleeced by secondary sites. Meanwhile, several studies have shown that ticket fraud rates in the US are twice as high for digital tickets then they are for physical tickets.

Forging The Fight: Better Laws and Regulations

Not only the U.K. is attempting to handle skyrocketing ticket touting problems with the recent unveil of legislation under the Digital Economy Act that makes it a criminal offense to use automated technology and bots to purchase large amounts of tickets to be sold on at inflated prices. The new law imposes unlimited fines to violators and tackles computers that buy more than 10 tickets at a time.

Google is also attempting to thwart rogue ticket touts with its recent global resale regulations that aim to protect consumers from scams and prevent potential confusion. Put into action this January, ticket resellers now have to be certified by Google before advertising tickets via Google AdWords.

Though these laws and regulations are a step in the right direction in the battle against ticket fraud, they’re not enough to stop determined fraudsters from cashing in on a big, ticket-related payday. Detecting ticket fraud is extremely difficult, especially as consumers increasingly expect instant delivery of digital tickets within seconds. This leaves ticketing businesses in the tricky situation of having to immediately approve transactions or risk losing valuable, trusted customers. And that’s where up-to-date machine learning fraud detection software comes in.

The Next Step Against Ticketing Fraud

Using data sets, intelligent algorithms and other machine learning components, fraud prevention solutions like RISK IDENT’s FRIDA Fraud Ident or EVE Evaluation Engine are able to detect individuals who use a variety of devices to circumvent ticket limits as well as bots that purchase tickets en masse to be sold on for extortionate prices. These solutions also protect a business’s ability to confidently approve or decline transactions — in real-time — which helps that fraudsters are prevented from making major profits on the black market while true fans acquire tickets for the events they love at fair prices.

For more information on how RISK IDENT can help your business in the fight against ticket fraud and bot fraud, contact to us at contact@riskident.com.