Ahead of Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets sales launching on Saturday, September 12, tournament owners Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) and tournament organisers England Rugby 2015 Limited have launched a multi-platform campaign to ask fans to buy from official sources only.
With the support of the City of London Police, the UK’s lead force on fraud, RWCL and England Rugby 2015 ask fans to only buy tickets, hospitality, supporter tours and merchandise through official sources. A dedicated official checker at www.rugbyworldcup.com/buyofficial enables fans to verify whether their World Cup ticketing, supporter tours or hospitality source is official, a first for Rugby World Cup. This is accompanied by an official guide to provide advice on what to look for when buying RWC 2015 products and lists official sources.
RWCL has also produced a short educational video, which will be screened by Rugby World Cup 2015 rights holding broadcasters and will be shared across the Tournament’s official social and digital media channels.
RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Rugby World Cup is one of the largest global sporting events in 2015 and we are anticipating a very special celebration of Rugby and the host nation. Our objective is to ensure that fans have a great time and therefore we urge all fans to be vigilant and check that that they are buying from official channels as we are very much aware that unofficial sources will attempt to exploit supporters.”
England Rugby 2015 CEO Debbie Jevans added: “It is our priority to ensure that all fans have a fantastic experience in 2015 and part of achieving that is to make fans aware that only official sources should be used when purchasing tickets to guarantee that the tickets are genuine.”
City of London Police Commander and Police National Co-ordinator for Economic Crime Steve Head said: “Rugby World Cup is one of the world’s biggest sporting events. However, the unfortunate reality is that fraudsters will also be eyeing up this tournament as an opportunity to make a lot of money through sophisticated and very convincing online ticketing scams. We are urging all Rugby fans not to be fooled by cheap or discounted tickets available online and to buy only from official sources. If you do fall victim to ticketing fraud or even if you think you may have, please report it immediately to Action Fraud, now part of the City of London Police.”
Read more at http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/.
