United States Senator Chuck Schumer says the people who use sophisticated computer programs to scoop up theater tickets are doing the same thing with popular toys this Christmas.
The New York Democrat says the cyber scalpers are scooping up popular holiday gifts from dolls to gaming stations and reselling them for inflated prices on Ebay and other sites.
Programs known as “bots” automatically buy up whatever the scalpers want in seconds when they come up for sale online before you get a chance to buy them.
Schumer has introduced legislation to ban such scalping for theater tickets, and he says he wants to extend it to other products too as the scalpers diversify.