By Nick Farrell
04 August 2008, 11:53 AM

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are finding themselves without a ticket to the Beijing Olympics after being taken in by an online scam. The slick, professional-looking Website, beijingticketing.com, which boasts offices in Sydney, London and New York, is actually a scam and its owners have done a runner.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has received complaints from hundreds of alleged victims all over the world with some customers handing over thousands of dollars for non-existent tickets. It seems that the biggest victim was a Texas-based travel agent, Jolanta Sochacka who shelled out $57,000 for a family of seven. She said that the company looked so legitimate because its website was so elaborate.

Hacks have tailed the company to an empty office in Phoenix, Arizona and the IOC and the US Olympic Committee (USOC) will today ask a federal judge in San Francisco for an order to shut the website down.