Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets: Cyber criminals plotting to hijack launch

“It’s going to be one of the handful of events that would be one of the most

heavily targeted ever,” he told The Telegraph.

“The amount to be made would certainly be seven figures. These people don’t

get out of bed for peanuts.”

The nightmare scenario was made possible after the Government refused to ban

the resale of tickets for the tournament, despite repeated warnings from

England 2015’s chief executive, Debbie Jevans, and the police.

Both experienced first-hand the impact of such a ban while working on the

London Olympics and Paralympics and are now in a desperate fight to prevent

the Rugby World Cup being exploited by criminal networks.

“Of course I’m concerned that touts are potentially going to be able to buy up

the reasonably-priced tickets and then on-sell them,” Jevans said.

Commander Stephen Head, the National Police Coordinator for Economic Crime at

City of London Police, added: “These touts can put in a different kind of

scale of applications, so they can make multiple, multiple applications

instantaneously.”

Measures have been put in place in order to combat this threat, with Jevans

and Head working together to catch those illegally using multiple identities

to buy more than the four tickets per match to which each applicant is meant

to be limited.

Holding a ballot for oversubscribed games is one such measure but Walker, who

is operations director of the Iridium Consultancy and has helped tackle

ticket fraud at the O2 Arena, said of the touts: “What they will simply do

is flood the ballots.”

Applications made during the general sale window between Friday and Sept 29

will also be vetted to weed out those from the same IP addresses.

Walker said: “These people have so many identities, so many addresses, so many

proxy IDs around the world. It is physically impossible to stop harvesting.”

Head denied it was “impossible”, vowing to do everything to “mitigate the

risk”, adding: “It is in no one’s interest for these gangs to succeed.”

The Rugby World Cup’s ticketing platform will be run by Ticketmaster, whose

managing director, Simon Presswell, admitted it was in a “virtual arms race”

with touts.

He added: “We are able to identify the IP addresses, monitor any unusual

activity or behaviour and then de-duplicate any applications that we believe

to have been made fraudulently.”

Jevans warned that anyone buying a ticket other than through England 2015’s

official channels faced being refused entry to matches.

How practical that is to enforce at a tournament for which 2.3 million tickets

are expected to be sold remains to be seen.

Head said: “When you buy from these secondary sites in this instance, you will

potentially be supporting other aspects of criminality, so search your

conscience.

“You may also be throwing away huge amounts of money and you may still not get

to see the game.”

Jevans pointed out that was the fate that befell the parents of Rebecca

Adlington at the 2008 Olympics, when they bought second-hand tickets for

their daughter’s double gold medal-winning performance only to arrive in

Beijing and find they did not exist.

The England 2015 chief refused to play the “blame game” over Rugby World Cup

fans being left similarly vulnerable, something that dates back to the

International Rugby Board’s failure to make a ban on resale a precondition

of hosting the tournament.

“We respect the fact that we did not get legislation,” she added.

The shadow sports minister, Clive Efford, who lobbied for such a ban, said:

“It is a disgrace that the Government has refused to act.

“Preventing genuine fans being exploited must be a primary concern for all

major events hosted in the UK.”

The sports minister, Helen Grant, said: “We have confidence in the plans that

England Rugby 2015 and Ticketmaster have put in place to ensure that tickets

end up in the hands of genuine fans for the Rugby World Cup.

“Many major events are held in this country successfully using similar

measures and technology and we are sure the tournament will be a great

success that will grow rugby at home and abroad.”

IRB president Bernard Lapasset added: “It is our objective to ensure that fans

from around the world have a wonderful Rugby World Cup experience.

“We are aware that unofficial sources will attempt to exploit fans and we have

been working in full collaboration with ER 2015 and the appropriate

authorities to deliver a proactive programme that focuses on education,

prevention and monitoring.

“Our message to fans is clear – buy from official channels only and visit www.rugbyworldcup.com/buyofficial

to verify sources.”

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Article source: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Royston-rugby-player-Harry-Bayford-16-left-speechless-by-spectator-trip-20140513060002.htm

Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets: Cyber criminals plotting to hijack launch