Beijing Ticket Selling Site Scams Thousands.

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by macka654, Aug 4, 2008.

  1. macka654

    macka654 Ancient
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    Hey guys, this was on the news last night. People payed up to 50,000 for tickets. The site was a fake and thousands bought fake tickets.

    Visa card holders who are victims of an Olympic ticketing scam should be able to recoup their money, Visa International says.

    A national hotline has also been set up on Monday to assess the extent of the Olympic ticketing scam in which fake tickets were sold to Australians.

    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has received complaints from alleged victims in Australia and the rest of the world who say they have been duped by the United State-based website beijingticketing.com.

    Visa is to refund the money.

    Fake tickets.
    [​IMG]

    How real does the site look?
    [​IMG]

    UPDATE: Site shuts down.


    The site, beijingticketing.com, confirmed in a mass email sent to customers it does not have Olympic tickets to pass on.
    It also appears the website will not be offering refunds.
    A representative of the website, who called himself “Alan Scott”, wrote in the mass email that the site could not come up with the tickets because the company supplying them has filed for bankruptcy.
    Scott recommended customers "immediately" seek refunds from their credit card companies.
    Hundreds of sports fans from Australia, US, New Zealand and other parts of the globe have been left hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. Some spent more than $US50,000 ($A53,838) on tickets.
    Australians hoping to be spectators in Beijing have lost just under $A100,000 in the scam, including a Queensland man who reportedly forked out $A46,000 for tickets he will likely never see.
    "Our suppliers have not been able to honour their commitments to us in supplying tickets for the Summer Olympics, despite having received written assurances from these suppliers," Scott explained in the email.
    "We are given to understand that they have placed themselves in to bankruptcy, despite having been paid in full by our company."
    In his email, Scott did not name the bankrupt ticket distributor or provide a contact number or address identifying his location.
    He did tell the customers that beijingticketing.com would set up a call centre to assist them, but victims are dubious.
    The response from the site came as lawyers representing the US and International Olympic Committees were victorious in winning a temporary restraining order to shut the website down.
    Judge Jeffrey White in the US District Court in San Francisco signed the order late Monday afternoon.
    He also ordered more than 10 other websites linked to beijingticketing.com, such as beijingolympic2008tickets.com and olympic-tickets.net, to be closed.
    The operators of beijingticketing.com beat the judge.
    The site was shut down hours before he made the ruling.
    A London phone number that appeared on the site has also been disconnected.
    US Olympic Committee lawyer Diana Torres told the judge the site needed to be shut down permanently.
    The professional-looking website offered tickets to sold out Olympic events and boasted offices in Sydney, London and New York.
    The website also had what appeared to be a phony contact address in Phoenix, Arizona.
    Some victims, including families of Olympic competitors, handed over their credit card numbers for high-priced tickets but have received nothing in return.
     
    #1 macka654, Aug 4, 2008
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2008
  2. SVD Zero

    SVD Zero Ancient
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    pretty convincing to me, but i dont buy tickets on the internet
     
  3. alienman911

    alienman911 Ancient
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    this is why i don't trust smart people
     
  4. Boydeh ..

    Boydeh .. Ancient
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    I dont buy anything from the internet!!
    You'll never know if its a scam like this ..
     
  5. chrstphrbrnnn

    chrstphrbrnnn Guardian
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    Ebay's always safe:)

    I would NEVER pay 50G to see the Olympics..man, your seats are probably worse than watching them on your brand new 100'' Plasma which only cost you 6g's. Besides, people should know better. Things in China only cost 50 cents..
     
  6. macka654

    macka654 Ancient
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    yeh, i posted a picture of the fake tickets.
     
  7. Cr0ok3d

    Cr0ok3d Ancient
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    Wow, that looked so realistic. I don't know who to believe tho.
     
  8. Masta Blastr

    Masta Blastr Ancient
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    That is why you never do internet shopping.
     
  9. Linubidix

    Linubidix Ancient
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    Not neccessarily, but not always untrustworthy. I just depends on who you buy from. a smart thing to do is to check their feedback. If there's a lot of negative, I wouldnt reccommend buying from them.
    As I just said, it depends on who you buy from. Dont blindly buy from a source without knowing if they're legit. Google their name, if on ebay check their feedback.


    I saw that on the news yesterday, I dont understand why someone would pay so much to see the olympics.
     

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