Sports loving Australians travelling to the Olympics in London are being warned to take care when booking event tickets on the internet as ticketing scams abound.
Fair trading minister Anthony Roberts warned the 2012 games are shaping up to be the “most scammed sporting event in history.”
He stressed that Olympic organisers had placed strict conditions on ticket sales and had only authorised one Australian ticketing agent, CoSport, to sell tickets to the games which kick off in London in July.
He revealed tickets were currently being sold online for thousands of dollars including two listed on ebay.com.au for more than $9000.
“Because tickets can be cancelled by the event organiser dur to conditions that restrict their resale or transfer, consumers may well find themselves locked out of events and left out of pocket,” he said.
“Sports fans who buy tickets through unauthorised channels and websites run the multiple risk of being scammed by fake retailers, buying counterfeit tickets or being turned away at the venue with invalid genuine tickets.”
