A Liverpool FC fan and his friends were conned out of £19,000 by scammers selling fake Champions League final tickets online.
Ray Mcdonald, from Wirral, and his friends received their tickets on Tuesday night ahead of the final in Paris this Saturday, May 28, and initially thought they were genuine. However, upon further examination of the tickets, which cost £1,000 each, the group realised the PDFs were in fact fake.
After trying to contact the ticket tout, who Ray said he has bought tickets from six times this season, he realised their Twitter account had been deleted and their number was no longer in service. The 33-year-old said he has been added to a WhatsApp group with 50 fans who have been scammed out of a total of 125-150 tickets.
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He has come forward to warn other fans about the scam and help to stop the same thing from happening to anyone else.
Ray told the ECHO: "We bought 19 tickets at a grand each so we've spent £19,000 between us. It looked legit at first, I didn't think anything of it. About 11pm last night I was about to go to sleep and my phone was going mad.
"I tried to phone [the ticket tout] and it said the number was not in service anymore and at that point I was like 'I've been done here.'"
In the space of six hours, Ray said he had received thousands of messages from friends and other football fans who said they'd also been scammed after paying between £1,000-£1,250 per ticket. Ray said his friends have bought a total of 40 tickets from the same ticket tout for different games this season and all of them have previously been legitimate.
After contacting his bank to try and retrieve the money he had lost, Ray said he was told because he had been provided with a ticket, albeit fake, they were unable to help him and he should report the matter to police. He added: "Everyone is gutted to be honest. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions."
Another Liverpool fan contacted the ECHO after also falling victim to the ticket scam. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he has seen other people buy legitimate tickets from the tout in the past and decided to buy two tickets to the final for him and a friend at a total cost of £2,500.
He said: "I found out last night and it does make you feel quite sick to be honest. I've been very careful about doing things like this in general.
"I feel like I'm pretty street wise but the fact that he had all these reviews from all these people who I vaguely know or I've met before, nothing made me think 'OK he could be a scammer'.
"I got sent them and thought they were legitimate and then literally two hours later their Twitter page got cancelled and their phone number was blocked. They've either fabricated a PDF which looks like it's plausible or they've actually got one ticket that was real and tried to copy and paste different things on it."
Liverpool FC and Merseyside Police have issued warnings to fans this week to keep their eyes out for touted tickets to make sure they aren't caught out by scammers. It comes after the club were given an allocation of 19,618 tickets for the final, which were allocated in a ballot.
Merseyside Police raided a home in Cheshire on Wednesday, May 25, after receiving reports of fake Champions League football tickets being sold. It's not yet known whether the warrant, carried out at a house in Winsford, was linked to the same ticket tout.
When officers got to the home several suspected fake FA Cup Final tickets were also found along with a computer and phone. The items were seized by police and enquiries remain ongoing.
A 37 year-old man will voluntarily attend for questioning on offences under the Fraud Act at a later date.
In an official statement this week, Liverpool FC said: "Liverpool Football Club has called on social media companies to close more than 50 social media accounts and groups it believes are actively involved in selling, or offering to sell, Champions League final tickets online.
"The club has also identified 13 supporters who have offered their tickets for Saturday’s game against Real Madrid for sale online. Those fans have had their tickets cancelled, while their accounts are in the process of being investigated further, with the possibility of added sanctions to follow.
"The move comes following a recent warning reminding supporters to buy tickets from official sellers only. The club received an allocation of 19,618 tickets for the all-ticket fixture at Stade de France in Paris this weekend.
"There has unfortunately been an increase in the number of fans being defrauded, online in particular, by fake match ticket offers. If any supporter is offered a ticket online, they should report it to LFC here - and to Action Fraud.
"Liverpool FC will not stand idly by and watch people try to sell tickets they have been fortunate enough to get access to via the ballot. All reports of ticket touting, or online ticket fraud, will be investigated in line with the LFC sanctions process.
"If a supporter has been found to have offered a ticket for sale online, this could result in a lifetime ban for that individual. The club is also encouraging supporters to be diligent when providing any personal or payment details to persons they do not know.
"Liverpool FC continues to work closely with Merseyside Police and, where possible, will pass on the details of any supporters who have offered a ticket for sale online."
If you believe you may have been a victim of fraud online, report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk, or call 0300 123 2040.
