Fake RWC site leaves Irish fan ticketless

Photo / Richard Robinson

An Irish fan has had his Rugby World Cup plans tarnished after paying thousands of dollars to an unofficial website claiming to be selling tickets to this year's event.

Paul O'Brien, 30, an Irish navy engineer who lives in Cork, says he tried to get tickets for himself and three friends to the Irish team's four pool games and two of the quarterfinal matches through worldcup2011.com, a domain run by a Norway-registered firm known as Euroteam.

He said he mistook the site for rugbyworldcup.com - the only official website for ticket sales - and gave his credit card details, thinking he was only entering a ballot and would not be charged straight away.

But the extent of his error was revealed when Mr O'Brien received his credit card statement.

It showed he had been charged €3600 euros (NZ$6243) for the tickets - to add insult, official tickets for the games would have cost him around NZ$4100.

Mr O'Brien conducted an internet search on Euroteam and quickly realised he was unlikely to receive the tickets.

The internet is awash with complaints from disgruntled customers of the Norwegian firm, who say they never received what they paid for.

"I can't see those tickets being delivered," Mr O'Brien said. "You have to be realistic about it."

His credit card issuer, the Bank of Ireland, has disputed the transaction, but has told him he must wait until the September delivery date for the tickets has passed before it can investigate.

By that time Mr O'Brien will be in New Zealand for the tournament, which meant he had to pay more cash to get the tickets through the official website to ensure he and his friends get into the matches they want to attend.

He said he was trying not to dwell too heavily on the experience.

"Nobody died or anything like that and I still have my health," Mr O'Brien said. "You come to terms with it."

A Rugby World Cup Ltd official said the "Euroteam issue" was "relatively under control".

Tournament organisers were aware of only three people who had bought tickets through bogus websites, compared with 100,000 transactions through the official one.

"Rugby World Cup Ltd has already sent several formal cease and desist letters to the available addresses we have for them and will continue to investigate what can be done to stop them from a legal perspective."

Rugby NZ 2011's general manager for marketing and communications, Shane Harmon, said no provision had been made to help fans who bought tickets through unofficial websites and failed to receive them.

"Our very strong advice is to avoid disappointment and purchase [tickets] through official channels." .

South Africa's Sunday Times last year said internet ticketing scams netted about $1.2 million during the soccer World Cup, with illegal ticketing resulting in many fans being denied entry to matches.

The Herald made several calls to Euroteam in Norway yesterday.

All were answered by a recorded message that said "a meeting" was taking place.

TICKETY-BOO

Cup final ticket prices:

* Official site: (rugbyworldcup.com)$390-$1250

* Unofficial site: (worldcup2011.com) $1682-$3642