You're reading: UK police warn over online ticket scams

LONDON - British police are investigating around 30 unauthorised websites illegally selling tickets for the London Olympics and warned fans they risked being "ripped off" if they use them.

Ticketing has been the most contentious issue for London
organisers in the run-up to the July 27-Aug. 12 Games.

Demand for many events has outstripped supply, prompting
complaints about the way tickets were allocated, the cost and
technical glitches in handling applications.

Anger was fuelled at the weekend when Britain’s Sunday Times
newspaper reported that National Olympic Committees and
Authorised Ticket Resellers representing 54 nations had broken
rules over the sale of London 2012 tickets.

With Olympic tickets now being delivered to British homes,
police are stepping up efforts to halt black market trade, or
ticket touting as Britons call it.

“At this time when the majority of tickets have been sold,
the public need to be more wary than ever about buying from an
unauthorised source,” said Detective Superintendent Nick
Downing.

“If they are tempted to do so, they run the risk of being
ripped off for non-existent tickets or having their personal
details stolen and used in other crimes,” added Downing, head of
the “Operation Podium” drive to stamp out illegal sales.

British police said they had disabled two websites in a
joint investigation with Portuguese colleagues and had charged a
44-year-old man with fraud and money laundering.

Sales for the latest batch of Olympic tickets had been
unusually sluggish, prompting talk of “ticket fatigue” among
cash-strapped Britons.

London organisers said that as of June 6, they had sold 7
million Olympic tickets. They had 1.25 million soccer tickets
still to sell – half of the total for that sport – plus a
further 550,000 tickets for other events.

Prestige Ticketing, an authorised Olympic partner, has taken
out newspaper advertisements for its remaining VIP ticket, food
and drink hospitality packages, usually the preserve of
corporate customers at major sports events.

However, the prices start from 695 pounds ($1,100) per
person for athletics in the Olympic Stadium, putting them out of
the reach of many Britons.

Prestige said it had sold more than 85 percent of its 80,000
tickets and had always planned to make them available for
general sale at this point.