Business raided, accused of selling bogus theme park tickets on I-Drive

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies shut down an office on Thursday that was suspected of selling invalid theme park tickets.

Deputies said they were tipped off by a tourist who lost $100 and was turned away from Universal Studios.

In all, investigators seized 75 theme park tickets and various signs before closing the doors to the International Drive business.

WFTV returned to the business hours later, and a sign in the window read that the business would be open at 4 p.m. The sign also left a phone number for customers to call.

Channel 9's Racquel Asa called the line and spoke with someone from a time share marketing company who said discount tickets are only given to customers who attend a timeshare presentation, not sold.

Other local business owners said the there are plenty of similar businesses along the strip illegally selling tickets.

"Doesn't surprise me," said one owner. "Everybody does that."

The Sheriff's Office said it's not easy to crack down on illegal ticket sales. Officials said they have to be tipped off, like they were in Thursday's case.

"We can't do anything without a complaint," said Lt. Robert Stephens. "So, once we get the complaint, we aggressively act on it, like you saw today."

WFTV