Olympic ticket scam

08/08/08...
The big day is finally here, the official start of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. After all the hype and media that has been amounting the past few weeks, we're all excited for the games to begin. The official dates of the Olympics start today to the 24th of August. If you are planning on attending any of the games in Beijing, here's a quick warning.

It has been found that illegal commercial ticketing websites are selling phony Olympic tickets, and have been charged for allegedly using the 2008 Olympic trademark as well as selling tickets to consumers that were never sent. The U.S. Olympics Committee (USOC), alongside with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), have sued specifically beijingticketing.com and beijing-2008tickets.com. Most likely if you have ordered tickets from one or both of these sites you are now aware that they are phony, but there is also some more advice you should follow if you are still considering jet-setting to Beijing to see some of the games.

• The USOC has only authorized CoSport and Jet Set Sports company to sell Olympic games tickets in the U.S., meaning tickets can not be legally sold through any other commercial broker.
• Tickets for the opening and closing ceremony are embedded with a small chip that contains details of the ticket buyer with their name, photo, and passport number to identify the owner and to secure the safety of the ceremonies.
• Tickets can only be transferred once if authorized by the Beijing Olympic Committee, but July 30 was the last date to legally do so.

You can read the consumer affairs webpage for any further information on this phony ticket scam.

Best of luck to all the Olympic teams participating! Go world!!