Consumers International member Which? discovers consumers at risk from Olympic 2016 ticket site

Consumers International member and leading UK consumer rights organisation Which? is warning sports fans of a suspicious website selling Olympic 2016 tickets - bookriogames2016.com.

Which? found the site raised a number of ‘scam’ alarm bells including:

• Tickets sold in breach of the Olympics official terms and conditions, for example through bookriogames2016.com customers can buy up to 20 tickets, whereas official rules only allow four tickets per customer.
• Vague contact details. The address of the site is hidden via a proxy domain which has already been linked to scam websites.
• The site says it has five stars and that fans recommend them – but there is no evidence of this on the site
• Consumer-unfriendly terms and conditions. The site ‘reserves the right to deliver tickets at any point between the time of purchase and the day of the event,’ meaning some fans may already be in Rio by the time their ticket arrives, if it arrives at all.
• Imitation website design. The site has been design to mimic the official Rio Olympics ticket site.
• Dodgy domain. The site is registered using a domain service which has been linked to several scams.

In fact Which? are so concerned about the site it has reported its findings to the City of London Police and Action Fraud.

With only two weeks to go until the games kick off, Which? is urging people to only purchase tickets from official Olympic sources and have developed a seven-step guide to help consumers to buy from legitimate sites.

Alex Neill, Which? Director of Policy and Campaigns, said: “If you’re planning to buy a last minute ticket for the Olympic Games, make sure you buy them from an Authorised Ticket Seller, otherwise you risk being turned away at the gates. We’ve reported our concerns about this site to Action Fraud but more must be done both in the UK and internationally to ensure ticket restrictions are made clear to consumers.”

As part of the investigation, Which? contacted www.bookriogames2016.com to give it a chance to response to Which?’s allegations. It received no reply and the site has now removed the telephone number listed on the site.

Consumers International is working with its international membership of consumer rights organisations to raise consumer awareness of ticketing issues.