Rugby fans lose up to $28,000 each in World Cup ticket fraud

By PAUL PEACHEY

LONDON - Rugby followers from around the world have been cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a World Cup tickets fraud.

Fans sent money for packages for next month's tournament in Australia in response to newspaper and internet advertisements but received nothing. Buyers from Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, the US and Switzerland were among those duped by the operation along with British fans, police said yesterday.

None of the money has so far been traced and the company, The Rugby World Cup 2003 (UK) Ltd, has been wound up leaving many with the prospect of losing all of their money, particularly those who paid by cheque. "We certainly have some documentation but not a significant amount," said Detective Constable Steve Ball of Thames Valley Police.

The company was not in existence long enough to lodge accounts at Companies House. Overseas sellers are thought to have been alerted to the deals through the online auction website eBay, where dozens of tickets are on offer.

The advertisements first appeared last November, offering packages with tickets for all of the matches to be staged in Sydney. They offered a £2,000 ($5600) deal for adults, £1,500 ($4200) for children under 16 and a family package for £6,500 ($18,100).

Up to 25,000 England supporters alone are likely to travel to the World Cup. England, Scotland and Wales play their first matches on 12 October.

The fraud was running by the end of last year at a call centre run by an office service company in Wokingham, Berkshire. The information was passed to the person running the operation, police said. One buyer paid more than £10,000 ($28,000). The others paid a minimum of £390 for flights, accommodation and tickets but have failed to receive anything, said Det Con Ball. The printed telephone number was yesterday being directed to a fax machine.

More than 70 groups have contacted police and more are expected to when they fail to get their tickets in time for the World Cup.

"The people who haven't got their tickets will be screaming," said Det Con Ball.

The company claimed to be working in conjunction with the International Rugby Board, (IRB) the sport's world body. But the IRB said it had never heard of the company and it was not one of the 13 British-based licensed agents. The company was served with a compulsory winding-up order on 30 July.

Huw Morgan, commercial director of the Rugby World Cup, said the fraud was the most serious it had seen in the run-up to the tournament. All licensed sellers had to apply to the IRB to show that they had the capability and financial clout to run trips, but the company was not thought to have applied.

More than two million tickets are expected to have been sold by the day of the World Cup final on 22 November.

"To date, there haven't been that many problems that have caused concerns among the consumer," said Mr Morgan. He said that supporters should buy tickets only from agents with official tournament logos. John Hall, the managing director of Gulliver's Sports Travel, which is taking 3,000 people to the World Cup, said: "It happens at every sports event. There are always rogue operators who can find people naive enough to part with their money quickly."

Mike Burton, formerly of England and the British Lions, whose company is the official ticket agent for the World Cup and other big sporting events, said that rogue traders had operated similar frauds by offering tickets for the 1998 World Cup, for Wimbledon and for Royal Ascot.

A woman in her 30s has been arrested and bailed on suspicion of obtaining money transfers by deception.


- INDEPENDENT

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