New Zealand police seized Rugby World Cup tickets worth hundreds of thousands of New Zealand dollars in raids in Auckland on Friday after fraudsters bought them using fake credit cards.
Two people have been arrested and nearly 1,000 tickets worth NZ$500,000 (US$425,000) were recovered after the busts. Six people arriving or on their way to New Zealand were interviewed and turned away by border officials.
“Initial analysis indicated police have recovered the majority of the tickets which were fraudulently purchased,” Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock said.
World Cup organizers had earlier warned the public against buying tickets from touts, or unlicensed sellers, saying any obtained using fake credit card details would be declared void.
The World Cup, featuring 48 matches over seven weeks of action, is unlikely to be a sell-out, but it is predicted to hit its financial target of NZ$268 million, or about 1.3 million tickets sold.
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