Ticket broker sued after using 1,300 illegal accounts to purchase 7K Beyoncé tickets

The Federal Trade Commission alleges that REPS & Company Inc. violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act by using employees to circumvent Ticketmaster’s restrictions to purchase large numbers of tickets for resale at a marked-up price. The Beyoncé concert alone netted the company over $830K, according to the Justice Department.

Curious as to why tickets to Beyoncé‘s “Renaissance World Tour” might have been difficult to secure? The Federal Trade Commission might have an answer for you.

On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit against REPS & Company Inc, a San Diego-based ticket broker accused of using illegal tactics to circumvent the number of tickets one can purchase for an event.

Per the government’s suit, the company, which was founded in 2022, allegedly violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act by purchasing more than eight tickets for select events, 83,500 events in total. The company’s tactics reportedly brought in more than $120.8 million in revenue.

In one instance, the company is accused of using 1,300 accounts to purchase more than 7,600 tickets for Beyoncé’s final “Renaissance World Tour” date on October 1, 2023. REPS reportedly made $833,000 in profit off the tactic by reselling said tickets on the open market. Ticketmaster and AXS have implemented guardrails to prevent mass ticket buying and limit purchases to a maximum of 8 tickets.

“REPS’ entire business model is focused on trying to game the ticket-purchasing system in order to obtain as many tickets as possible to resell at inflated prices to consumers,” Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

“Companies that seek to profit by driving up prices or depriving ordinary fans of access to reasonably priced tickets to their favorite shows or events should be on notice that we are watching and will take action to stop this unlawful conduct.”

According to federal authorities, REPS has spent around $1.3 billion to secure 18.5 million tickets since 2022. The suit alleges that the company hired workers in the Philippines to carry out the scheme to bypass Ticketmaster and other security measures with virtual credit cards and masked IP addresses. REPS then made a guide to bypass Ticketmaster’s restrictions.

Beyoncé wasn’t the only high-profile artist the company used the scheme for. They purchased 5,430 tickets using 700 accounts for a Pitbull concert in 2024, then resold them at a high markup, netting $120,000 in profit.