Ticketing fraud prevention: How SeatGeek balanced fraud, payments, and revenue growth
Guest: Shawn Kelley
Ticketing fraud prevention is one of those topics that gets complicated fast.
Because the ticketing world is not just ecommerce with a different product.
It has its own economics, its own incentives, and its own fraud patterns.
In this episode, I talk with Shawn Kelley, former Director of Payment and Risk Operations at SeatGeek, about what it takes to build fraud and trust functions inside a ticketing business where payments, customer experience, brokers, venues, and revenue all intersect.
And that is exactly why this conversation is so useful.
We get into the differences between the primary vs secondary ticket market, why ticket brokers are often seen as a necessary evil, and how fraud and payments synergy can create better decisions when teams stop treating them like completely separate functions.
We also talk about what happened when SeatGeek expanded its business model, how ticket transfer fraud and event ticket chargebacks create unique risk, and why machine learning for fraud can struggle when buyer behavior changes quickly.
Here are a few themes we explore in this episode:
- why ticketing fraud prevention requires a very different lens than many other ecommerce models
- how payment and risk operations shape both fraud outcomes and revenue performance
- why primary vs secondary ticket market dynamics create unique fraud and trust challenges
- how fraud and payments synergy can unlock smarter decisions across the business
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- how Shawn built fraud and trust and safety in ticketing from the ground up at SeatGeek
- why online ticket fraud and ticket marketplace risk require both detailed and big-picture thinking
- how revenue optimization fraud decisions affect customer protection, chargebacks, and growth
- what ticket transfer fraud, event ticket chargebacks, and payment fraud strategy look like in practice
- why machine learning for fraud needs careful evaluation in fast-changing ticketing environments
You should listen to this episode if you:
- work in fraud, payments, marketplaces, or ecommerce and want stronger ticketing fraud prevention strategies
- need a better understanding of online ticket fraud and trust and safety in ticketing
- are interested in payment and risk operations, revenue optimization fraud, or chargeback reduction in ticketing
- want practical lessons on fraud prevention for events, ticket marketplace risk, and fraud and payments synergy
If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and review the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps with getting the word out.
Episode notes & key takeaways
Ticketing fraud prevention sits at the intersection of risk, revenue, customer experience, and operational complexity.
Because in ticketing, the fraud decision does not just affect whether an order goes through.
It can also affect inventory flow, venue relationships, transfers, refunds, and long-term growth.
Why ticketing fraud prevention is different from most ecommerce fraud
At first glance, ticketing might look like any other online transaction environment.
But it really is not.
The product is time-sensitive. Demand can spike instantly. Inventory is limited. Buyer behavior can change fast. And the ecosystem includes consumers, venues, brokers, marketplaces, and event operators all at once.
That creates a very specific kind of pressure for fraud teams.
Operational themes may include:
- ticketing fraud prevention has to account for urgency, scarcity, and rapidly changing buyer behavior
- online ticket fraud often looks different depending on whether the transaction is in the primary or secondary market
- trust and safety in ticketing requires understanding both customer intent and marketplace dynamics
- ticket marketplace risk increases when inventory, transfers, and timing all affect fraud exposure
Why payment and risk operations need to work together
One of the strongest parts of this conversation is the way Shawn talks about zooming in and zooming out.
Because that is exactly what good payment and risk operations require.
You need to understand the details of a suspicious transaction, of course. But you also need to understand the broader business impact of the decision. What does this mean for approvals, chargebacks, customer trust, venue relationships, and future revenue?
That bigger picture matters.
And it is why fraud and payments synergy can create much better outcomes than treating fraud as a purely defensive function.
Operational themes may include:
- payment and risk operations work best when fraud decisions are tied to broader business goals
- fraud and payments synergy can improve both customer outcomes and financial performance
- payment fraud strategy should balance risk reduction with operational realities and revenue impact
- revenue optimization fraud conversations are stronger when fraud teams can explain business tradeoffs clearly
How the primary vs secondary ticket market changes the fraud strategy
This is where ticketing gets even more nuanced.
The primary vs secondary ticket market dynamic changes how companies think about fraud, inventory, and customer behavior.
In the primary market, the relationship to venues, onsales, and fan experience can shape the risk model. In the secondary market, transfers, brokers, resale incentives, and fulfillment risk can introduce a different set of challenges. And some businesses are operating in both worlds at once.
That is a lot to manage.
It also means fraud teams need a more layered view of what good and bad behavior actually look like.
Operational themes may include:
- primary vs secondary ticket market differences should shape how teams evaluate risk
- ticket broker fraud creates both operational complexity and strategic tradeoffs
- ticket transfer fraud can become a major issue when inventory movement and identity are harder to validate
- fraud prevention for events depends on understanding the business model behind the ticket flow
Why machine learning for fraud can struggle in fast-changing ticketing environments
This is another really important point in the episode.
Machine learning for fraud can be helpful, of course. But ticketing is one of those environments where the data can shift quickly. Demographics change. Buyer patterns change. Event types change. Demand behaves differently depending on what is happening in the market. And during major disruptions, like COVID, almost everything changes at once.
That can be hard for any model.
Which is why fraud technology decisions in ticketing need close attention, strong monitoring, and a clear understanding of what the system is actually learning from.
Operational themes may include:
- machine learning for fraud needs ongoing review in ticketing because buyer behavior can change quickly
- ecommerce fraud operations are stronger when teams understand the limits of model performance
- event ticket chargebacks can rise when models fail to adapt to unusual market conditions
- chargeback reduction in ticketing requires both technology and strong operational judgment
Better fraud strategy in ticketing protects both revenue and customer trust
One of the biggest reasons I wanted to have Shawn on is because he does a great job of connecting fraud strategy to real business outcomes.
Not just losses avoided.
The bigger picture.
This conversation shows how the best ticketing fraud prevention strategies can protect customers, reduce unnecessary friction, support revenue, and help the business identify entirely new opportunities when teams understand the risk well enough.
And that matters.
One of the biggest takeaways from this episode is that ticketing fraud prevention cannot be separated from the rest of the business. When fraud, payments, trust and safety, and revenue strategy are aligned, teams are much better equipped to handle the complexity of online ticket fraud without sacrificing growth or customer experience.
