First after the bot: programs create artificial shortages and queues
Along with the development of IT and communications, the stratification of society in terms of ownership of these benefits of civilization is becoming more noticeable, sometimes it comes to digital discrimination. More and more often we hear about resellers who sort out travel documents and tickets to cultural events overnight using ticket bots. They are also used to create an artificial queue in institutions. Now, the mechanisms available on the market have begun to be used by ordinary users, as well as artists, to record at the right time for events to the detriment of others. Izvestia investigated how the best-thought—out competitors bypass their competitors and whether the use of ticket bots is legal.
The bot is faster
A simple algorithm written by a programmer will outrun the most sneaky user — the bot will perform all operations on a platform offering a product, service or benefit in a split second, while an ordinary person is looking for a gap. A few years ago, these programs killed the hope of fashionistas to buy a rare item at half price among the first hundred buyers. There have been scandals before when buying tickets for planes, trains, and theaters.
Ticket bots are also used in other, most unexpected areas. For example, in May 2023, the St. Petersburg Committee for Culture officially confirmed that some street musicians had booked advantageous performance venues (those with the largest foot traffic) using bots. The St. Petersburg Culture portal was subjected to cyber attacks.
The music lover's enemy
According to experts, the Russian ticket sales market has been overwhelmed by a wave of high-tech fraud. Automated bots, which have become a tool of digital resellers, massively buy tickets to concerts and events, leaving fans stranded. This practice has turned into a well-established criminal market with its own infrastructure, which is practically useless to fight with traditional methods, says Igor Bederov, founder of the Russian company Internet Search.
The numbers used by the specialists are amazing. In the spring of 2025 alone, more than 4 million visits with signs of reseller bot activity were recorded on one of the largest ticket sales sites. In normal times, they account for up to 40% of all traffic, but when sales start for the most anticipated events, the picture becomes shocking.
"On ticket sites, on average, about 40% of traffic can come from bots, and during sales for the most anticipated events, this share can reach 96%," says expert Bederov.
This means that in the first minutes of sales, almost all attempts to buy a ticket come not from people, but from computer scripts.
The Invisible Army
For a long time, it was believed that captchas (text to check the user's "humanity") or blocking by IP addresses could save them from bots. However, modern ticket bots have learned to easily bypass these obstacles. According to Bederov, they use a whole arsenal of tools: anti-detection browsers (for example, Multilogin) that mask the digital fingerprint of each bot account, simulate human cursor and keyboard handwriting, AI tools for solving captchas, and work through distributed botnets (a computer network consisting of virus-infected devices of random users).
"A high level of disguise makes such attacks resistant to traditional protection measures such as captcha, basic rate limiting or IP address blocking," the specialist emphasizes.
How to fight
Cybersecurity experts point out that the work of ticket bots is closely linked to other types of cybercrime, such as fraud and data trafficking. An integrated approach is required to combat this scourge. On the one hand, stricter legislation is needed, and on the other, the introduction of advanced technological solutions.
Among the latest developments, he highlights "the introduction of dynamic QR codes and blockchain technologies to protect against counterfeiting and illegal trafficking" of tickets. This would make each electronic certificate unique and traceable, making it meaningless to resell on the darknet.
In the meantime, the arms race continues: the platforms are strengthening their protection, and the creators of bots are developing more and more sophisticated methods of circumventing them. According to Igor Bederov, it is unlikely to be possible to stop this trend in the coming years, and the main struggle, according to analysts, will shift to the sphere of digital identification and tracking of resale chains.
Without punishment
According to lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova, the situation with responsibility for the use of ticket bots is ambiguous.
— In some areas, we can talk about a categorical ban, — says Krasnova. — In 2019, after a series of scandals with ticket resellers in famous theaters, amendments were made to the law on the "Fundamentals of Legislation of the Russian Federation on Culture." According to them, only cultural organizations, museums, circuses or persons authorized by them have the right to sell tickets to entertainment events. The legislation establishes fines for illegal sale, and also restricts the sale of tickets at a price higher than their face value.
She also mentioned that since July 1, 2025, amendments to the law 152-FZ "On Personal Data" are in effect.
— According to them, any chatbot, tracker, or script that directly or automatically transmits data to foreign servers before saving it in Russia violates the law. As a rule, many bots also use a person's passport data (for example, when it comes to buying transport tickets).
However, Krasnova is not aware of any serious investigations into the activities of the creators of ticket bots or trials of those who used them for their own purposes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
