Paris Olympics ticket scams: 338 websites identified for resale fraud

More than 300 scam websites attempting to sell fake resale tickets for the Paris Olympics have been identified just weeks before the competition begins.

Since the start of March 2023, online investigation teams have found 338 fraudulent sites. Of these, 140 have been given formal notice to stop and close, and 51 have been closed.

The 200-person cyber-gendarmerie team has been tasked specifically with searching for fake sites ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which take place from July 26-August 11 and August 28-September 8 respectively.

The team is working under the management of European crime fighting agency Europol.

“The police are carrying out various searches on all French and foreign search engines to detect sites selling and reselling unauthorised tickets,” said the unit’s director of operations Captain Etienne Lestrelin.

“The aim is to track down and identify these sites. The vast majority are hosted abroad. They know that makes procedures longer, and it’s less easy to take action to close or withdraw the site,” he told FranceInfo.

Read also: Watch out for these scams as Paris prepares for 2024 Olympics 

How to avoid scam tickets

1. Only buy from the official website and check URL details carefully

“The only site that you can buy tickets from is the official Paris 2024 website,” he said. Its address is https://tickets.paris2024.org. The official resale website is https://ticket-resale.paris2024.org.

You can also buy and resell tickets securely on the genuine Paris 2024 Tickets app. There is a guide on how to use the app on the official website here (PDF document).

Any variation URLs, websites, or apps with slight differences in the addresses are fraudulent.

“Scam sites’ aim is to capture personal data,” said Captain Lestrelin. “They’ll try to get your email and phone number and tell you that they’ll get back to you as soon as tickets become available. They’ll tell you that they’ve found an exceptional 100m place three metres from the track… which doesn’t exist!”

Similarly, you will never be asked for your full login details to the Olympics website by any genuine site or seller. You will also never be asked for your payment details anywhere for tickets except at the real websites or app listed above. 

2. Avoid buying tickets from other online sources or social media

He also cautioned people against buying tickets from people advertising on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Leboncoin, WhatsApp, and Telegram. 

“The buyer can’t know whether the person actually owns the tickets, because they are virtual tickets, not paper tickets. So people are selling you hot air, and you don’t know what they’re selling,” he said.

He conceded that some people who do have genuine tickets may be trying to sell some on a one-off basis via social media. The police tend to turn a blind eye to people selling genuine tickets as a one-off, but will take action as soon as “we can see it’s happening in larger volumes”, he said.

3. If it’s too good to be true…it probably is

He warned buyers to be very alert to the seller and not to buy if there is any doubt, even very slight.

He also warned people that tickets at low or too-good-to-be-true prices are another sign of a scam.

“You will never get a ticket for less than its original cost,” the captain said. “The aim of people who may have bought tickets in volume with the intention of reselling them is to make a profit. So it’s a red flag if you find a much cheaper ticket.”

4. Pay attention to the seller’s words

Currently, valid tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics are not actually physically available, in the sense that the valid entry will only exist when the ticket holder digitally generates a unique QR code just before the event.

“So anyone who is currently in possession of a ticket, even if it visually looks like a ticket, is a fake, a fraud,” said Captain Lestrelin.

“We’re worried that there will potentially be people who think they have a ticket, travel to an event, and are then rejected [at the doors] because the QR code won’t work.”

How can I check if a ticket is genuine?

The first thing to do is to go to the official site (see above) and check the ticket’s references. Using these unique codes, you can see if the ticket has been genuinely transferred to you. 

You will need to log in and check your ticket details via the site. 

What if I have been sold a scam ticket? 

If you think you have been duped, you will need to contact your bank to block your card if needed, and report the scam to your local police or gendarmerie station. 

You can also report the case to consumer watchdog the DGCCRF (la Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes), which has set up a gendarmerie partnership for this specific cause. It is set to work with the police before and during the Games.

For the poor people who get as far as the gates to the event, and are turned away for having fake tickets, gendarmerie and the DGCCRF will be working with the Olympic Committee to question buyers who have been duped, to help trace the fake tickets back to the sellers.