KEY POINTS:
Dozens of families may still not be aware that they are victims of an Olympic ticketing scam - but help is at hand.
Reports of families of New Zealand athletes buying tickets to the Beijing Games only to find they were bogus have led the New Zealand Olympic Committee to take action to ensure parents see their offspring compete.
General secretary Barry Maister says it is regrettable a number of Kiwi families have been "burned out" by the scam, under which punters bought from an unofficial website, beijingticketing.com
"Regrettably, ticket scams go hand in hand with any international sporting event. We do know we've had a dozen or so [people] - over the last six months - that have been ripped off. Some people haven't heard anything and that's concerning."
Mr Maister said high-priced tickets were a sure sign of a scam, as the Olympic tickets were significantly cheaper at these Games.
"The tickets to these Games are cheap - around $15. And if you're asked to pay $100, then I'd say, 'Pull up, pull up'," Mr Maister said.
Yvonne Willers, mother of BMX rider Marc Willers, lost about $750 after paying for tickets offered by an unofficial website.
"We didn't lose as much as some other families. Other families lost thousands. Fortunately, we only paid to go to BMX, but other families paid to go to other events too."
From Beijing yesterday, New Zealand team chef de mission Dave Currie said he was aware of the ticketing problem, but not the extent of it.
"It has been quite clear there have been some dodgy websites out there and certainly everybody was urged to go through the official ticketing agencies."
* Anyone affected can email malcolmb@premiereventsgroup.com
