Police Scotland is reminding members of the public attending the 2013 Open Championship this weekend that valid entry tickets must be purchased from the official outlets.
Tickets which have not been sourced through either the R&A or Ticketmaster will not be accepted.
Admission to the Championship continues to be available at the entrance gates to the Muirfield course and spectators should not be tempted to buy from unofficial sellers.
Three men have been detained today in relation to fraudulent ticket sales and a number of fraudulent tickets have been seized.
The men, who are not from the East Lothian area, are aged 52, 34 and 47.
Supt Phil O’Kane, who is leading the policing operation at The Open, said:-“The Championship is a major international sporting event and it is only to be anticipated that unscrupulous people will try to exploit it.
“However, due to the vigilance of the security staff and the police officers on the course, these fraudulent tickets were identified.”
The people who had presented the tickets at the entrance gates were spoken to by police officers as witnesses and then given the option to buy valid tickets.
Supt O’Kane said:-“Enquiries are ongoing into this fraudulent ticket activity. The focus of the policing operation at The Open is on keeping people safe and that extends to protecting them from those who are trying to defraud them. I am happy to say the vast majority of the spectators are intent on supporting the event, following their favourite golfers and enjoying the sun.
But when criminal activity takes place, we will respond accordingly.”
He added: “It can prove to be a costly exercise to purchase a ticket from anything other than an official outlet and I would urge people not to pay above the ticket price, only to purchase from the official outlets and, when they are leaving the course at the end of their visit, not to be tempted to resell their ticket – it will only be used to exploit another innocent individual.”
Police officers, alongwith wardens from East Lothian Council, will be increasing their patrols around Muirfield and in Gullane to identify people trying to sell tickets.
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