The ACCC said today it had filed charges against New York-based Richard Chen for allegedly claiming his site, www.sydneyopera.org, was the official booking site of the Sydney Opera House, as well as fraudulently charging credit cards for tickets to performances at the venue.
ACCC officials said in a statement "several consumers from the United Kingdom and Europe" who sought to pay for tickets using their credit cards either did not receive their tickets or were overcharged.
It said the www.sydneyopera.org site was affiliated with a number of other sites, including www.witestar.com, www.worldsboxoffice.com and www.scholarscircle.com, "all of which allegedly claim to be booking sites for various entertainment venues worldwide".
The ACCC said Chen allegedly operated the site from servers based in the United States. It said it had obtained interim court orders seeking to have the offending sites removed as well as preventing Chen from creating, operating or maintaining similar sites.
Chen has not responded to the ACCC's actions.
The official Sydney Opera House Web-site is www.sydneyoperahouse.com.au.
