Bad bots and fraudulent activity have caused issues for fans and ticketing companies since live entertainment ticket sales moved online. In recent years, online abuse and bots have evolved to have major impacts on the systems administering ticket sales and the fairness of acquiring tickets by everyday fans. In reaction, the U.S. government passed the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016.

The BOTS Act is a step in the right direction to creating more fair ticket onsales. The legislation has two major parts The Act firstly outlaws the circumvention of a security measure which enforces ticket purchase limits for an event with an attendance capacity of over 200 people. Secondly, it prohibits the sale of an event ticket that was obtained through a violation of the first part of the act, if the seller knew of this circumvention.  

But the legislation doesn’t address all of the ways that fraudsters take advantage of major onsales. It remains the responsibility of venues, organizations and ticketing platforms to apply the right tools to defend against bad bot and fraudulent online activity if they want to be protected by the BOTS Act.

This video reviews the six key points where bots and fraudsters impact onsales and the mitigation strategies to combat the fraudulent activity. Prior to onsales, fraudsters can be get involved in account creation and account takeovers. Account takeovers, in particular, can include attacks such financial fraud, spam, and phishing.

When your business-critical onsales begin, fraudulent activity can include simulating many users or the use of speedy, scripted bots. Finally, during the ticket purchase, malicious activity could mean actions such as credit card fraud or multiple purchases that exceed limits.

The video also elaborates on how bots use the ever-present 2-minute ticket sell-out myth to their advantage in grabbing hold of tickets for the most popular events in live entertainment.

Learn the tips and tricks of the malicious trade from two leading ticketing industry experts: Rami Essaid, CEO and Co-Founder of Distil Networks (now part of Imperva), and Niels Henrik Sodemann, CEO and Co-Founder of Queue-it.