Scalpers still operating at World Cup despite crackdown

Scalpers are still operating at the World Cup, despite claims of a crackdown by FIFA and Russian organizers on illicit ticket sales.

Sellers have been visible outside the main ticket office in Moscow, buying spare tickets from foreign fans and sell at inflated prices.

An Associated Press reporter was approached six times within an hour and offered tickets including a luxury Category 1 seat at the opening game Thursday between Russia and Saudi Arabia. One was offered at USD 700, or USD150 above the standard price.

The most in-demand tickets, such as for Argentina's opening game, are being offered online for as much as USD 2,300, though buyers have no guarantee they're getting genuine access to the games.

FIFA has tried to cancel some tickets and last week filed a criminal complaint against ticket resale website Viagogo. Russia has made World Cup scalping punishable by a fine for individual sellers of up to 25 times the ticket's face value.

Despite the tough talk from Russian authorities, police stationed at the ticket office on a night earlier this week did little besides briefly inspect one seller's documents.

Each World Cup ticket must be registered to an individual, but sellers exploit a loophole in FIFA's system allowing fans to buy up to four tickets then change the registered names to three of them. So long as the new recipient has at least one ticket of their own - and so is registered in Russia's Fan ID system - a switch is possible.

"You just need ID," said one seller, who said he was from France and had sold "lots" of tickets in the last month. He offered two tickets that had been issued under Russian men's names while standing next to the ticket office sign that said "tickets are not available for most games."