More than 40 counterfeit air tickets worth hundreds of thousands of yuan have been found in Shenzhen.

On Thursday afternoon, nine people went to the Shenzhen Aviation Transportation Association complaining that they had bought counterfeit air tickets for the Chinese New Year holidays.

“Each of us bought round-trip tickets and lost thousands of yuan,” said one man. They were only some of the 40 people who had bought the fake tickets, he said.

Officials from the association and the Shenzhen Municipal Communications Bureau said they would help police to catch the offenders and help the victims with airfares.

Mr. Zhu, an official from the bureau, suggested people buying air tickets use genuine ticket outlets listed in a booklet called Shenzhen Aviation Guide. He discovered from the complaints that the bogus ticket sellers had used the names of the genuine ticket agencies. “But their telephone numbers are not the same as those of the genuine agencies as published in the booklet,” he pointed out.

The buyers contacted the bogus agencies through business cards distributed on the streets, according to Katherine Nip, secretary general of the association.

“The lesson we have learned is that you should not believe in the ticket information on the street business cards and mobile phone messages,” she said. The aviation guide booklet should be the only guide to buy tickets, she said.

“Don’t even trust the illegal ticket centers that you used effectively before. There have been some cases this time involving these agents who have disappeared with the victims’ money,” she said.

Zhu said this was the first time Shenzhen had found so many counterfeit air tickets.

Nip said one of the illegal agents had sold fake air tickets worth more than 300,000 yuan (US$3,600).

“We strongly appeal to the people to use only the information in the booklet when they want to buy air tickets for the Chinese New Year holidays,” said Nip.

The illegal agents bought the tickets first and then advertised they had discounted tickets for the holidays, she said. After selling the fake tickets, they returned the real tickets. “So they got their money back and took the money for the fake tickets,” she said.

Ms. Wang, one of the victims, said the business cards offered a 40-percent-discount on fares. She bought two round-trip tickets to Xi’an.

In another scam, the bogus agents bought tickets in the name of the passengers, copied them and then returned the real ones for a refund. If they returned the tickets the same day, they would have to pay only a 10-yuan penalty.

(Shenzhen Daily January 21, 2005)