An England fan was 'left heartbroken' after being scammed thousands of pounds by a Euro finals ticket con artist on Twitter.
Ben Moore, 28, was eager to watch England face off Italy at Wembley tomorrow night (July 11).
He paid the £2,000 as part-payment for two tickets for the match, reports Birmingham Live.
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But the scammer then deleted their Twitter account, leaving Ben without any tickets.
The warehouse manager, who lives in Banbury, said he fell for the scam on Friday after spotting the Twitter user supposedly selling the rare final tickets.
Ben said: "I had been searching for Euro final tickets online for myself and my best mate and came across a guy on Twitter.
"He said he was selling two tickets. He wanted £4,000, so we agreed for me to pay £2,000 up front and then the other £2,000 after I had received the tickets.
"I am usually so careful and would never get conned but I fell for this one.
"We liaised for some time through Twitter messages and he seemed so genuine. He asked for me to transfer the cash by bank transfer but I said i would prefer to do it by Paypal.
"He started to get cold feet and was implying I might try and rip him off once I got the tickets. In the end I relented and agreed to transfer the cash to his account by bank transfer."
But the communication ended a short time later and when Ben tried to contact the seller again, his account had been deleted from Twitter.
Ben added: "My heart sank. I felt sick and heartbroken. I knew instantly I had been had. I am absolutely gutted.
"I went to the Croatia game which was amazing. But the Euro final at Wembley is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was prepared to pay £2,000 for a ticket to go.
"I used the money from my savings and my dream of going is now gone. It is just heartbreaking."
Ben said he had contacted his bank - Lloyds - which is looking into the incident. The payment was also made into a Lloyds account.
He added: "This is just a warning to other fans who may become victims like myself.
"I went onto a forum online and people had warned against the same person. He had use a fake profile including pictures.
"I am reporting the matter to police and just hope the person who did this can be brought to justice."
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