How scalpers nab concert tickets before fans

Ticket scalpers have found a sneaky way to elbow ordinary fans out of the lineup for major sports and concert events, a CBC Marketplace investigation has found.

Hackers are using computer software to lock up front-row seats and then offer them to ticket brokers who resell the tickets at hugely inflated prices.

It may explain why tickets priced at $129 by Ticketmaster for next week's Elton John concert in Kitchener, Ont., were being sold through Showtime Tickets in Vancouver for as much as $900.

The practice of reselling tickets may seem unfair, and it is also illegal in a handful of provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

But it's allowed in British Columbia, and according to the CBC investigation, no one is cracking down on the software that beats ordinary fans to the front of the line.

Last year, a U.S. judge awarded Ticketmaster a preliminary court injunction against a software company that makes programs that allegedly help scalpers cut to the front of Ticketmaster's line and snap up big blocks of tickets.

However, some consumer advocates wonder why Ticketmaster doesn't take responsibility for tightening security on its website.

"I think Ticketmaster owes it to their customers to limit that secondary monopolization of the marketplace," said Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Canada, referring to the fact that most ticket sales for major shows in the U.S. and Canada are handled by Ticketmaster.