The operators of the website at the centre of the worldwide Beijing Olympics ticket scam say they are also victims.
The site, beijingticketing.com, confirmed in a mass email sent to upset customers today it does not have Olympic tickets to pass on.
It also appears the website will not be offering refunds.
A representative of the website, who called himself 'Alan Scott', wrote in the mass email the site could not come up with the tickets because the company supplying them has filed for bankruptcy.
Scott recommended customers "immediately" seek refunds from their credit card companies.
Hundreds of sports fans from Australian, US, New Zealand and other parts of the globe have been left hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. Some spent more than $US50,000 ($NZ69,800) on tickets.
"Our suppliers have not been able to honour their commitments to us in supplying tickets for the Summer Olympics, despite having received written assurances from these suppliers," Scott wrote in the mass email sent out today.
"We are given to understand that they have placed themselves in to bankruptcy, despite having been paid in full by our company."
Scott also said beijingticketing.com would set up a call centre to assist jilted customers.
The response from the site came as lawyers representing the US and International Olympic Committees appeared before Judge Jeffrey White in the US District Court in San Francisco in an attempt to shut down the website.
The website was still attempting to sell tickets to sold-out Olympic events on the weekend, but this morning the operators of the site appeared to have closed the site themselves.
A London phone number that appeared on the site has also been disconnected.
US Olympic Committee lawyer Diana Torres told the judge the site needed to be shut down permanently.
The judge, who had an opportunity last month to close the website after concerns by the USOC, said he would make a ruling soon.
The professional-looking website offered tickets to sold-out Olympic events and boasted offices in Sydney, London and New York.
The website also had what appeared to be a phony contact address in Phoenix, Arizona.
Some victims, including families of Olympic competitors, handed over their credit card numbers for high-priced tickets but have received nothing in return.
