Fake Olympics tickets sold on Internet
5 days before the Opening Ceremony, some people who have bought tickets online are finding out that they were scammed will be unable to enter the venue.
From Reuters (via Yahoo News):
Sports fans around the world have been swindled by an international Internet scam which offered thousands of bogus tickets for the Beijing Games, Olympic officials said on Monday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it was taking action to shut down the fraudsters, but the move came too late to help the victims find replacement seats at the Games.
Among those left out of pocket were the families of Olympic athletes in both Australia and New Zealand, with people in the United States, Japan, Norway, China and Britain also reportedly conned by the sophisticated sting.
According to the report, some fans are still unaware that they have purchased fake tickets and will only find out when they attempt to enter the venue.
he press reported that some Australian nationals had been swindled out of almost $45,000. Moriarty said one unnamed individual had lost $57,000.
“The worst thing is that some people don’t even know yet that they bought tickets that won’t arrive,” he said.
“Some were told they could pick up the tickets at an office in Beijing, and they won’t be there. My guess is they sold thousands of tickets that don’t exist.”
