Australian Open tickets: Scalpers target grand slam 2023 seats
Tennis fans are being warned over Australian Open tickets after cops cancelled seats selling for twice their value online.
Victoria
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Scalpers have targeted the Australian Open with authorities catching scammers trying to illegally sell the hottest tickets in town at inflated prices.
Sports fans have been urged to be careful where they buy tickets to the Melbourne grand slam after cops cancelled seats being sold for twice their face value online.
Authorised officers scanning the internet for fraud or jacked up ticket advertisements cancelled 16 online listings and ordered removal of 28 tickets from sites such as Gumtree and eBay in the first two days of the tournament.
In some cases tickets were being sold for hundreds of dollars above face value and amid fears scalpers were selling the same ticket several times to unsuspecting fans who would have been left stranded at entry gates without a valid pass.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said Tennis Australia would work with police and state government investigators to stamp out shonky ticket sellers trying to rip off fans.
“We have zero tolerance to it, it’s a very strong approach we have,’’ he said.
“No cheating.
“We will come down hard as best we can, working with the authorities.’’
Among tickets removed from sale were Wednesday night Rod Laver Arena seats with a face value of $299 advertised for $799 and centre court passes for Monday worth $269 being flogged for $650.
The Herald Sun can reveal scalping metrics for similar events include 366 listings removed, 789 tickets seized and 15 infringements at last year’s ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2022.
And 401 illegal tickets 204 dodgy listings and 27 infringements handed out for the 2022 AFL Finals and Grand Final.
Anti scalping police removed more than 5678 listings from secondary ticket-selling platforms in 2022.
For the 2022 Australian Open there were 21 listings and 34 tickets removed, with five hefty infringements issued.
It is illegal for anyone to resell a ticket to declared events such as the Australian Open for more than 10 per cent above face value.
Penalties can range from $925 up to $554,760 depending on the nature of the offences.
In a statement, the government said: “all Victorians deserve to attend the sports and events they love, including the Australian Open, without having to pay inflated and unfair prices.
“That’s why we’ve cracked down on ticket scalpers to help more genuine fans access tickets.”
“Our authorised officers are continuing to monitor websites and have taken down thousands of listings, with heavy penalties in place for those who seek to sell tickets at an inflated and illegal price.”
Consumer Affairs Victoria received 1,112 complaints about ticketing and ticket resales in the 2021-22 financial year, compared to 334 in 2020-21 and 655 in 2019-20.
Tickets to men’s and women’s finals were on Wednesday still widely available on official Australian Open ticket site Ticketmaster.
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