Crooks Target Olympic Games Ticket Buyers

As tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games went on sale on Tuesday, security experts said users should be on their guard for potential cyber-criminals looking to cash in on the event by luring users to fake ticketing websites.

VeriSign Authentication, part of Symantec, on Tuesday released research saying that more than one in ten (11 percent) UK web users have admitted to halting an event ticket purchase because of suspicions over a ticketing site’s authenticity.

Criminal activity

And if that’s the figure in normal times, the Olympics is sure to bring in additional criminal activity, VeriSign Authentication warned.

The company warned ticket buyers to be prudent and thoroughly vet websites before making a purchase, particularly when searching for tickets that appear to be sold out elsewhere.

Users should only buy from the official website, but security experts warned that phishers may create malicious sites that closely resemble the official site.

“The 2012 Olympics will be the biggest event to hit the UK all year, with demand for tickets likely to mean they sell out within a few hours of going on sale,” said VeriSign Authentication EMEA Director Danilo Labovic in a statement. “Sports fans looking to be a part of this historic event may drop their usual security checks to buy tickets – and cyber criminals will be set up to take advantage of this.”

These fake sites may not only steal cash, but also obtain users’ private information to sell in the “shadow economy”.

Malware risk

“Aside from this, fake sites are also often riddled with malware which can bring further grief to consumers,” Labovic said.

He said tell-tale warning signs of a fake site include poor spelling and lack of business details such as a valid UK address or phone number. He recommended users look for the green address bar in the web browser to indicate an authenticated site.

Colin Rowland, Senior VP at business transaction monitoring software provider OpTier, estimated that applications for about 8.8 million tickets would be accepted between 15 March and 26 April.

“As Olympic Games ticket applications launch to monumental demand, it will be vital that the website doesn’t fall at the first hurdle,” Rowland stated.