The Canadian Press reports that hundreds of would-be spectators going to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games may be victims of a ticketing scam.
According to the Canadian Press, ticket resellers who’ve been hawking 2010 Games tickets online for months are now notifying clients in Canada and the U.S. that those tickets don’t exist. It appears that a Georgia-based company, who was selling tickets to the resellers, has failed to actually secure those tickets from their overseas source.
The fans are reportedly being told they also won’t be getting a refund, but one lawyer says credit card companies should reimburse, reports the Canadian Press.
Jim Moriarty, who has filed lawsuits in the past on behalf of fans caught in Olympic ticket scams, says this may be the biggest one yet with more than $3 million reportedly missing. He says the way official ticket sales are handled for the Games leaves fans with no choice but to go to the black market where they are easy victims of fraud.
Meanwhile Olympic volunteers who are selling their free tickets to the Opening Ceremonies rehearsal are being warned by Vancouver 2010 that the tickets could be cancelled.
An e-mail from the “ceremonies team” to the volunteers says, “under no circumstances are these tickets to be sold”. The e-mail came a day after thousands of volunteers lined up for almost three hours to pick up the tickets for the February 10 event.
