|
Dubai: An Abu Dhabi resident has found that she has been duped by an online store into paying 1,164 euro (Dh6,612) for what she thought were Olympic tickets just days before her departure to Beijing.
British national Barbara Peacock discovered that the tickets she had bought for sporting events at the Olympics starting today were not arriving, as she fell victim to an organised international fraud network cashing in on Olympic fans.
The seemingly professional black market ticket site, Official Ticket Ltd (official-ticket.com), has reportedly been duping Olympic enthusiasts all over the world, and has also been the target of a lawsuit by Olympic officials.
Peacock said since official ticket vendors had stopped selling tickets, fans of the Olympics had no option but to turn to the black market to be able to attend the games. "It's not uncommon for people to look for tickets on the black market," she said.
Invoice
"My husband, daughter and I decided to go to the Olympics in May. I didn't want to buy the tickets from [auction site] eBay so I decided to go through this site. I paid it and got the invoice, which we had to sign and fax back.
"But just last week, they said they wouldn't be able to get the tickets in time to ship them so they would deliver them to our hotel. When I checked the site again it was down so I searched for information on the site and it came up as a big scam," she said.
In a press release in late July, the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee said they were filing a lawsuit against Xclusive Leisure and Hospitality, which they accuse of operating a number of such sites, including Official Ticket Ltd.
The Peacocks lost 1,164 euro for nine tickets. "But I realise that there are other people in the world who have lost even more," said Peacock.
Peacock forwarded the correspondence between herself and Official Ticket Ltd to Gulf News. Although seemingly professional, representatives of Offical Ticket used incorrect grammar and spelling, even spelling the games as "Olimpic".
Although "customer support" numbers in six countries including the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands were listed, the main number provided appeared to be in Spain.
A domain name search however revealed that the website was registered in the Seychelles, which is likely to be where the technical operations of the site are being run from.
Official Ticket Ltd also allegedly conned sports fans during football and other championships in Europe, and word about it spread on sports forums on the internet.
Peacock is now trying to speak to her credit card company to get her money back. She said, however, that she wouldn't let the loss discourage her from going to China. She's expected to depart today.
"We're going anyway. We can't afford not to go," she said, adding that the family would try to buy tickets when they reach Beijing.
Real or not real
Information relating to ticketing can be found on the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at www.tickets.beijing2008.cn
Sites included in the lawsuit filed by Olympic officials are:
www.official-ticket.com
www.olympic-tickets.net
www.2008-0lympics.com
www.beijingolympic2008tickets.com
www.beijingolympictickets2008.com
www.olympicticketsbeijing2008.com
www.buyolympictickets.co.uk
Have you ever faced problems purchasing online tickets for events? What happened? How would you check a website for authenticity? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form below to send your comments.
Send us your comments
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Gulf News may edit comments for length and clarity but will not change the tone of the message. Comments will only be accepted if all fields (including name) are filled correctly and the message isn't abusive, defamatory or offensive. The Gulf News website will only print your first name along with your comment. Please state in the message if you wish to remain anonymous. All comments sent may be forwarded for use in the Gulf News newspaper.
|
