Bogus Websites Selling Beijing Olympics Tickets

Scammers fool buyers into paying for nonexistent passes to Games

August 5, 2008

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With the games beginning in just a few days, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is warning consumers of bogus websites marketing tickets for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

"We have received numerous complaints of consumers paying thousands of dollars for tickets they've never received," Myers said. "In the final lead up to start of the Olympics this week, phony ticket sellers are betting on panicked consumers taking chances with online purchases."

Consumers should be aware of the following facts before buying tickets to the Olympic Games in Beijing:

• The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has authorized only one company to sell tickets in the United States. It is known as CoSport and Jet Set Sports. These tickets cannot be sold through commercial brokers.

• Tickets to the opening/closing ceremonies are embedded with a microchip that contains the ticket holder's name, photo and passport number. This allows authorities to verify the real owners and authenticate the tickets.

• Tickets can be transferred only once with approval by the Beijing committee. The deadline for transferring Opening ceremony tickets to a new owner was July 15. Sellers continuing to tell buyers they can transfer the tickets are lying. Closing ceremony tickets had a July 30 deadline for transfer of ownership.

Lawyers for the USOC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have sued companies using two Internet sites, beijingticketing.com and beijing-2008tickets.com, alleging they illegally used Olympic trademarks and sold tickets that were never sent to the buyers.

Named in the lawsuit are XL and H Limited, also known as Xclusive Leisure and Hospitality, and related companies in California and Arizona.

Under federal law, buyers who used their credit cards to purchase the tickets have 60 days from the day the charges appear on their bills to dispute them. The claims must be in writing.

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