The ARU says entry to the games is being advertised at inflated prices, even though official tickets have yet to go on sale.

"Companies are going online offering tickets to people around the world at prices which are grossly inflated from that which will be on offer when we do announce our ticket policy very shortly," said ARU spokesman Strath Gordon.

"We think that the prices are extraordinary, and none of these operations have any official access to tickets whatsoever anyway.

"The public right across the world should be very wary of going online and buying tickets until the ARU announces its ticketing policy."

The tournament will take place at venues across Australia between 10 October and 22 November.

The ARU is due to announce its ticketing policy next week.

It insists the internet prices are much higher than the official prices and make no distinction between showpiece games and group matches between the lesser sides.

"We're just concerned that people will go on and see that pool matches at Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia will cost you �225," Gordon told BBC Radio Five Live.

"And yet the prices when we reveal them in the near future will be considerably less than that, I can assure you.

"Clearly people are going to be having to take a massive leap of faith by paying extraordinary amounts when right now there's no such thing as a Rugby World Cup ticket.

"The prices listed on some of these sites seem to make no distinction between some of the blockbuster games, England versus South Africa for instance, and some of the games between the 'minnow' nations such as Japan.

"It makes no sense as a ticketing policy and I really would recommend people don't go there, don't do this right now and wait until the official prices are announced."

The New South Wales state government's Fair Trading Minister John Aquilina warned that anyone buying internet tickets could lose out twice over.

"Consumers who respond to these scams run a very real risk of losing their money and never receiving a ticket," said Aquilina.

"Once people send their money overseas, it's virtually impossible to get it back."