WASHINGTON - OFFERS of tickets for Michael Jackson's memorial service were being removed on Monday from online classifieds site Craigslist and Web auction house eBay.

'We believe it is inappropriate to allow the sale of tickets for the Michael Jackson memorial service,' eBay said in an email statement to reporters.

Among the offers pulled from eBay was one asking for US$10,000 (S$15,000) for a pair of tickets to Tuesday's memorial service for the 'King of Pop' at the Staple Center.

A Craigslist spokeswoman said offers for memorial tickets on Craiglist were being flagged for removal by users of the community-moderated site.

'Users very quickly flag off ads that are inappropriate, look fishy and are miscategorized, and that is what we are seeing happening with regards to Michael Jackson tickets,' she said.

Some 1.6 million people registered to enter the draw for the event, hoping to be among 8,750 lucky fans chosen at random by a computer to receive a pair of tickets for Tuesday's service.

Ticket winners who beat the 183-1 odds of being chosen will be given a wristband to wear when they are issued the tickets in order to make it harder for scalpers. -- AFP