Online ticket fraud rose by 55 per cent, last year and cost public £5.2m

The cost is a leap from the £3.35m lost by UK consumers in 2014, with more than a quarter of fraudulent tickets sold online last year for Rugby World Cup and Premier League matches, according to the Government-backed web security initiative Get Safe Online and the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

Some 15 per cent related to fraudulent tickets for gigs and festivals. Those aged 20 to 29 accounted for 28 per cent of victims last year.

Get Safe Online urged sports and music fans to be vigilant, especially on social media sites.

Findings show that 21 per cent of crimes relating to ticket fraud were instigated through Facebook and six per cent on Twitter.

While 22 per cent of reported incidents took place on Gumtree.

Tony Neate, Get Safe Online chief executive said: “Criminals are clever and often use pre-existing websites or fan forums to help them appear legitimate, or in fact mimic genuine websites to help them dupe their victims into handing over money.

Chris Greany, City of London Police Commander said: “We ask that people only buy tickets from official sites and when buying resold tickets ensure that they are buying from vendors who have been approved by the event organiser.

“If you do fall victim to a ticket fraud please report it to Action Fraud so we can identify how this criminality is being committed and shut it down,” Mr Greany added.