Opera House ticket scam By KARA LAWRENCE and BRUCE McDOUGALL 29aug02 http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,4990185%255E662,00.html FBI investigators will fly into Sydney late this week to speak to Opera House management over an international ticket scam that has hit the Sydney landmark. Acting Opera House CEO Judith Isherwood yesterday said investigators were "very close" to tracking down the syndicate that had copied the Opera House's website and was selling bogus tickets via credit card order. The syndicate is believed to have included operas across the world in the same scam, including London's Royal Opera and the Paris Opera. News of the scam came as the New South Wales Fair Trading Minister yesterday warned of a similar operation selling fake tickets to the 2003 Rugby World Cup via the web. Opera House management was first made aware of the scam in May and so far there are only two people who have been duped out of opera tickets via the fake site -- one a woman who reported the matter to NSW police. The site has shifted from a New York Internet server to a Miami one, then most recently to California.
