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Wellington - New Zealand police seized Rugby World Cup tickets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in raids in Auckland Friday after fraudsters bought them using fake credit cards.
Two people have been arrested and nearly 1 000 tickets worth NZ$500 000 (US$425 000) were recovered after the busts. Six people arriving or on their way to New Zealand were interviewed and turned away by border officials.
"Initial analysis indicated police have recovered the majority of the tickets which were fraudulently purchased," said Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock.
"This is a really significant result for police and the other agencies."
World Cup organisers had earlier warned the public against buying tickets from touts, or unlicensed sellers, saying any obtained using fake credit card details would be declared void.
The World Cup, featuring 48 matches over seven weeks of action, is unlikely to be a sell-out but it is predicted to hit its financial target of NZ$268 million, or about 1.3 million tickets sold.
The tournament gets under way later on Friday with New Zealand's All Blacks playing Pacific rivals Tonga at Auckland's Eden Park Stadium.
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