LONDON (VIP-NEWS) — Thousands of people have been warned they may not receive concert tickets from a website that has been shut down by the Metropolitan Police.
The site – Paperticket.co.uk – sold tickets for gigs ranging from Barry Manilow to The Killers.
It was closed down last Friday on suspicion of fraud.
Consumers who purchased tickets from the site have been advised to contact the government's advice service Consumer Direct for more information.
Those who used credit and debit cards to buy their tickets may be able to obtain a refund from their card issuers.
Sinead O'Connell, 26, bought tickets for Kings of Leon at the beginning of October.
"I went onto Paperticket, and it looked like it was all okay," she said.
"It showed exact seats and they said they'd send an email confirmation of the purchase.
"I didn't receive anything. The money has come out of my account.
"I was really really worried as I hadn't received any email from them and no tickets have arrived."
Representatives for Paperticket were unavailable for comment.
However, a message on its website read: "On 16 October, the Metropolitan Police Service's Computer Crime Unit requested the dehosting of the www.paperticket.co.uk website under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
"People who have bought tickets from this site are encouraged to call Consumer Direct for advice on 08454 04 05 06."
'Unrealistically low prices'
Shari Vahl, who investigated the story for BBC Radio 4's You and Yours, said: "I understand paperticket.co.uk has received more than £2.5m from people's credit cards since it started up earlier this year.
"Last Friday morning alone £120,000 is believed to have been taken from people's credit cards."
Graham Burns from the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents (Asta) said his organization had been "concerned for weeks" that Paperticket was selling passes at "unrealistically low prices".
"We made our concerns known to the authorities," he added.
"We would urge consumers only to buy tickets on the internet from accredited suppliers or legitimate ticket brokers who have signed up to the Asta Code of Conduct."
This summer saw a spate of incidents where unofficial ticket agencies failed to deliver tickets to music fans.
Hundreds of people were left out of pocket when SOS Master Tickets failed to deliver passes for the V Festival and other gigs.
More than 4,000 people were left out of pocket in August when Xclusive Tickets went into liquidation.
"It has been estimated that 40,000 people have been affected by this problem in general this year," said Vahl.
"That's double the number of people who were affected last year."
According to BBC
