Vancouver Games hit by ticket scam

The 2010 Winter Olympics were hit by a two-million-dollar (Canadian) ticket scam by a Latvian criminal ring, the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) revealed.

VANOC confirmed at the first board meeting since the February Games that the criminal gang, thought to number more than 30, used stolen Visa credit cards to purchase tickets on its "Fan to Fan Marketplace" website.

The site was set up in December as the official and most secure method for fans to re-sell tickets at any price. For the service, VANOC took a 10 per cent commission from both the buyer and seller.

Three Latvians were arrested by police when picking up the tickets.

VANOC Chief Financial Officer John McLaughlin said they became aware of the scam in the last week of the Games after an examination of the volume and transactions going on in certain accounts. The site had more than 13,000 accounts but only about 200 were "compromised".

"The credit cards were actually approved so went through the protocol you've got for any kind of online sale - we followed that," he said.

McLaughlin wouldn't speculate how many tickets were involved but said it was in "the thousands".