Bogus ticket site scam means fans missed Rod Stewart's Shrewsbury concert

Dianne Dunderdale, who lives on the Shropshire/Powys border, says her husband paid £560 to 'goticketsuk.com' for tickets for her and her friends to go the singer's concert, which was held at Shrewsbury Town Football Club last week, but they never arrived and the couple are still awaiting a refund.

She said: "The tickets were £140 each and we were looking forward to the concert. A week before we had an email to say the tickets would be dispatched. That brought us up to the weekend before the concert. We were then told they had run out of tickets as they had double booked. They said we would have a refund within the next seven to 10 days but we have not had anything. He's frustrated that someone could do such a thing, my friend was so upset as she was so looking forward to going."

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) has identified a number of reports made by the public surrounding the online ticket vendor.

Victims have purchased tickets for concerts or festivals due to take place many months later.

Upon purchase they are instructed that they will receive physical tickets along with further correspondence nearer to the event date; however, as the concert or event date has drawn closer and victims have attempted to contact 'goticketsuk.com' for an update, a response has been received suggesting a number of reasons why tickets cannot be sent.

These include an overbooking of tickets at the venue, a delay receiving the tickets from a supplier, or that the tickets have simply had to be cancelled.

Steve Profitt, deputy head of Action Fraud said: "This is a huge problem. It is all about supply and demand. People want to see the big names. When tickets become available they sell out within minutes. At that point in time they will do anything to get a ticket. A lot of the websites are set up to target big events but the tickets never arrive."

There appears to be a number of victims who were expecting to attend a Robbie Williams concert in Coventry and there have also been some reports which have indicated fraudulent ticket purchases for The Demon Dayz Festival.

The NFIB would encourage anyone who has purchased tickets or passes for upcoming events via 'goticketsuk.com' to contact Action Fraud in the first instance, especially in cases where no correspondence has been received surrounding their purchase so that a report can be taken.

Anyone affected by this, or any other type of fraud, can report it to Action Fraud by visiting actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.