Paul O’Brien, an Irish Navy engineer from Cork, was bilked out of thousands of dollars when he purchased 2011 Rugby World Cup tickets from an unofficial website claiming to be selling tickets.

O’Brien applied for his tickets for several Ireland games through a Norway-registered firm known as Euroteam.

O’Brien told the press he believed he was visiting the official site and gave away his credit card details, buying tickets for the Ireland team’s four pool games and two of the quarterfinal matches.

He was charged 3,600 euro for the tickets but now he realizes he will probably never see the tickets he paid for.

Meanwhile organizers of the 2011 Rugby World Cup issued a statement assuring Irish supporters that fake ticket websites are under control.

“Rugby World Cup Limited has already sent several formal cease and desist letters to the available addresses we have for them and will continue to investigate what can be done to stop them from a legal perspective," a statement confirmed.