BALTIMORE, MD—Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh this week announced that the Maryland Consumer Protection Division had settled charges against Nebraska-based Event Ticket Sales, LLC, an online event ticket reseller, and its owner, Guinio Volpone, for violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and Maryland’s Interference With Internet Ticket Sales law.
Charges against Event Ticket Sales and Volpone were initially brought in September 2019, alleging that their ticket reseller websites unlawfully used Internet addresses, including the names of Maryland venues, without authorization and falsely implied that they were the official online box offices for Maryland venues selling tickets at face value, when in fact they were reselling event tickets at a sizeable premium.
The settlement requires Event Ticket Sales and Volpone to follow Maryland law, including not using domain names that contain the names of venues or events, and to improve the disclosures on their websites to make clear to consumers that the websites are reselling event tickets, often at above face value.
The company and Volpone must also pay $50,000 in restitution to compensate consumers who had purchased tickets from Event Ticket Sales since October 1, 2018, when the Interference With Internet Ticket Sales law came into effect.
“We are pleased that consumers affected by Event Ticket Sales and Volpone’s conduct will receive restitution as a result of this settlement,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Most importantly, this out-of-state company will be required to make changes so Maryland consumers are not misled in the future.”
Consumers who purchased tickets from Event Ticket Sales websites secureboxoffice.com or box-officetickets.com after October 1, 2018, may call the Consumer Protection hotline at 410-528-8662 or toll-free at 888-743-0023 to inquire about refunds.
