Warning over Cup ticket fraud

Police have already confiscated fraudulent Rugby World Cup tickets. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Police are on the hunt for bogus Rugby World Cup tickets after confiscating a number of 'fraudulently obtained' tickets already.

One man believed to be part of an international ticket-fraud ring has been deported to Africa in the past few days and another six people have been refused entry to New Zealand, the Dominion Post reported.

Fraudulent tickets were reportedly tracked through credit card records and could result in significant lost revenue for tournament organisers.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 spokesman Mike Jaspers said he was aware of a number of dodgy tickets being circulated.

"As we get closer to the tournament and ticket sales increase, we are seeing some examples of people obtaining tickets fraudulently by using stolen credit cards or onselling tickets through websites. This is not unusual for major events."

He denied it was a widespread problem.

"We are talking a very small percentage of overall tickets that have been affected since we began selling tickets last year."

Mr Jaspers confirmed authorities had collected a handful of fraudulently obtained tickets seized at the border but could not say how much they were worth.

RNZ 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said the company had been keeping an eye out for people fraudulent tickets the whole time.

"There was some guys that had gotten hold of some stolen credit cards and were using them to purchase tickets off us. We became aware of that and what we've done is we've just cancelled all those tickets."

He said only fans with genuine tickets would get into Eden Park for tonight's (Friday) tournament opener and urged fans to buy tickets from official sources.

"It is just a reminder that when people are purchasing RWC tickets they've gotta take care, they've gotta purchase them from the official site or from Ticketek," he told Radio New Zealand.

"If they purchase a ticket off a guy off the street, they've just gotta be aware that they take the risk, and they'll turn up at the ground."

Mr Snedden was confident the remaining $20 million worth of tickets would be sold over the 40 days of the tournament.