Beijing Olympics is beset with widespread complaints of a fake online ticket scam just days before launch. The International Olympic Committee acknowledged receiving hundreds of complaints from across the world about online ticket purchases that went awry. Fans from US, UK and Australia all complained of being taken in by fraudulent online ticket sellers who claimed to have tickets for all events even after the Games was officially declared sold out a week ago.
The majority of the complaints centered on two websites: www.beijingtickets.com and www.beijing-tickets2008.com. They reportedly failed to deliver tickets purchased online by their customers after collecting premium payments for them. The scam is alleged to have garnered more than $50 million in this manner.
Victims said they were captivated by the professionalism and sophistication portrayed by the scams. Olympic logos were displayed prominently in the scam sites. They presented detailed information on events as also a complex booking process.
One of the sites, www.beijingtickets.com claimed it had offices in London, New York and Sydney. Customers who checked out on one of the office addresses in Phoenix, Arizona were greeted by an empty office.
Another site offering online tickets, www.beijingticketing.com, is suspected of carrying out a phishing scam. Customers here are asked to register before purchasing tickets. Confidential personal information is then obtained from them under the garb of a registration process.
The International Olympic Committee has launched investigations on the websites. To victims, however, they offer no solace. The IOC has stated that it is not in a position to offer either refunds or tickets to them. The one chance they may still have of recovering their money is to cancel the ticket purchase with their credit card companies.
Fans are sore on one more count. They believe the IOC knew about the scams much earlier and yet did nothing to stall them.