French police have arrested two people suspected of reselling tickets for Disneyland Paris that they had obtained through credit card fraud, a police source said Wednesday. The men were arrested on Monday at the entrance to Europe's most visited amusement park, located east of Paris, amid a police investigation into a scam thought to have cost Disney some 600,000 euros ($655,000) in lost revenue.
"They used a classic modus operandi. Using real codes from stolen debit cards, they bought a large number of tickets to the park online, and then resold them to the public," the police source told AFP. An inquiry was launched in August 2014 after Disney lodged a complaint.
A Disneyland Paris spokesperson told AFP the company has been working closely with the authorities to solve the case, and that it is "very vigilant when it comes to fraudulent practices." To avoid future scams, investigators are now monitoring online purchases on Disneyland Paris's website and deploying personnel at the park entrance to stop illegal touts from operating, the police source said. The two suspects had been selling up to 30 tickets a day worth 84 euros each at 35 euros, prosecutors said.