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Take care when purchasing London Olympics tickets
Published: 31/03/2011 |
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Tickets for the London Olympics finally went on sale on March 15th, the first big sprint of the Games began with 6.6 million tickets available this month for an initial six week period until April 26th, with prices ranging from £20 up to (ahem) £2,012 for the best opening ceremony seats.
With such a short window of opportunity in which to buy tickets, and with such a huge demand anticipated for even the lower-profile events, it is no surprise that fraudsters are targeting people who will be hunting for tickets they weren’t able to get first time around – making it ever more important for the consumer to get some kind of identity theft protection.
Police expect dozens of bogus websites to spring up, targeting buyers desperate for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s best biggest sporting event. As a result, Operation Podium has been set up by the Metropolitan Police to combat fraud and organised crime around the Olympic Games on the lookout for fraudulent and touting websites.
Unlicensed reselling of Olympic tickets is illegal, unlike other sporting events and concerts – which means that officers are potentially able to arrest touts. The London 2012 organising committee is working closely with police to develop a legitimate way for people to resell and swap tickets without resorting to touts – already a team of detectives specialising in organised crime and ticket fraud have made 36 arrests.
Tips for buying Olympics tickets
1. In Britain, genuine Olympics tickets will be available only through the London 2012 website plus through authorised short break packages and corporate tickets with Thomas Cook, Jet Set Travel and Prestige Travel.
2.. The application process for tickets will be open for six weeks from March 15 until just before midnight on April 26, after which the tickets will be allocated by ballot.
3. Payments can be made only with Visa cards (debit, credit and prepaid), cash and cheques .
4. Once your application is processed you cannot cancel, change or return the tickets you are allocated. However you will have the opportunity to resell your tickets at face value through the official London 2012 resale programme early next year. This will be the only authorised way to buy tickets from people offering their tickets for resale.
5. When buying tickets online, try to make sure that you’re buying from an approved site in order to protect yourself from the risk of identity theft as well as the more likely risk of buying a fake ticket. Never give credit card or personal information to an unknown site.
If you’re unlucky enough to fall for a fraudster, CreditExpert has a dedicated Victims of Fraud team to help give you identity theft protection. It’s free to see your Experian credit report with a 30-day trial of CreditExpert
Check your credit report regularly. It’s such a good protection against ID fraud that it’s recommended by the Home Office. Always respond to alerts from your bank, card company or Experian CreditExpert and check your accounts immediately for any suspicious activity.
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