Internet ticket scammers strike Beijing Olympics

The International Olympic Committee said Monday that thousands of unlucky fans, including the families of some athletes, were victims of a sophisticated ticketing scam.

Unfortunately, many will not be able to find replacement seats for the events as tickets were already sold out for these events. Affected non-ticket holders reside in Australia and New Zealand -- there including the families of athletes -- as well as the United States, Japan, Norway, China, and Great Britain.

The IOC has stated it would take action to shut down those running the fraudulent operation, but thus far has offered little other than court action.
The US Olympic Committee and IOC filed suits on Friday in federal court in California asking for action against six sites that are allegedly selling counterfeit tickets to the Beijing Games.

One of them, Beijingticketing.com, operated through the weekend according to Reuters although a BetaNews check Monday evening showed the site as unreachable.

One of those affected has publicly accused the group of being complacent.

Jim Moriarty is a lawyer from Houston who lost $12,000 as part of the scam. His firm is looking to represent those who may have been duped by the scammers.

At least one group in Australia is reported to have lost $57,000, according to press reports there.

Olympic organizations in the affected countries seem to be sympathetic to the plight of those affected, but none appear to be offering any kind of assistance. Australian Olympic Committee head John Coates reminded reporters in a press conference that it had warned event-goers to purchase tickets only from authorized ticket sellers.