The Metropolitan Police's new Operation Podium unit, set up specially for London 2012, has already made 32 arrests in the seven months since it was set up in connection with fake tickets and after releasing the schedule for the Olympics earlier this week, organisers are concerned hundreds of bogus websites will emerge when the official tickets go on sale on March 15.

Certain measures have been taken to prevent fraudulent tickets, including a special website checker that allow ticket buyers to verify if the seller is genuine.

Deighton believes such tactics will help reduced the amount of counterfeit tickets sold at for the Games.

"I'm absolutely confident that we can make this an environment that is very comfortable for the genuine fans and very difficult and very painful for touts," he told insidethegames.

"By the very nature of such a huge competition, you can't eliminate this sort of threat entirely but you can make sure that the genuine fans know how they can get a ticket and be confident that it is an official ticket.

"UK residents should apply for tickets via the London 2012 website and every country has its own authorised outlet.

"There is no reason to stray away from the London 2012 website because that is the official website.

"We are focussed on getting the tickets into the hands of the genuine fans because that is one of the best ways to stop fraud.

"If you get a cycling ticket into the hands of a cycling fan, they are not going to let go of that easily."

Deighton added that organisers will be provide a system for people with unwanted tickets to resell them legitimately at face value as selling tickets for a profit through the big UK auction sites such as eBay will be illegal.

"People who are not able to attend the Games for whatever reason will be able to resell through us at face value," he said.

"It will be very simple, very clear, and very efficient and such is the anticipated demand for tickets, it will almost certainly be bought straight away.

"You won't get stuck with a ticket if you find you can't go."

London 2012 is currently in discussion with all the big UK auction sites to stop tickets being resold there because under Section 31 of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, it is illegal for organisations to offer tickets for sale unless authorised by London 2012.

Selling fake tickets carries a maximum £5,000 fine as well as a possible prison sentence and Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing believes his organisation stands a good chance of preventing large numbers of fraudulent activity at the Games.

"We will be using our full range of assets to combat crime," he said.

"This is not just low-level ticket touting but involves people with an infrastructure and a business model, which we are looking to break down.

"We are talking about £5,000 fines and very substantial prison terms."

Downing also backed London 2012's policy of not having a first come-first served policy on ticket sales.

Tickets are on sale from the official London 2012 website from March 15 to April 26, but there is no advantage in applying for tickets early during that window as they are allocated completely at random.

"The six-week period for buying tickets is a great initiative as it prevents a mad rush and reduces fraudulent activity," said Downing.

"We saw that recently when the Take That concert tickets went on sale and the website crashed because of the volume of people applying."

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