Craig ThompsonMUSIC fan Craig Thompson paid £538 on the internet for Reading Festival tickets, only for the Swindon-based seller to disappear.

Now it appears he may have got away with more than £5,200 after fleecing other people too.

Craig, 25, a grocery manager, of Covingham made a successful bid for the VIP tickets for the festival which starts today on ebay in June.

He said: "I used the Paypal payment system, which is ebay's preferred payment method as it is secure. These were special tickets, including backstage access and the chance to meet the stars.

"The seller sent me an email thanking me for the payment. He even offered to come to my house and drop the tickets off. He also gave me an address if I wanted to drop a cheque off.

"Payment was made to an office on Cheney Manor industrial estate.

"In fact he was very helpful all the way up until a week ago last Sunday when the emails dried up. That was the day the tickets were supposed to arrive."

He then discovered others were also having problems.

"I got in touch with one of the them and all of a sudden there were all these other people with the same story. I personally know of 13 others, but I have heard that there may be up to 30 people who bought tickets from him, at prices between £400 and £630 per pair."

"I was quite worried but now it's beyond a joke. There are a lot of people looking for him now. I think he should be brought to justice and somehow made to pay these people back, or if not he should be put away."

A police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we have received a number of complaints and an investigation is currently under way by Swindon fraud officers."

Rob Taylour, public protection group leader for Swindon's trading standards, said: "We would warn consumers to be particularly careful when purchasing items from an internet auction.

"Very often the sellers on these sites are private individuals rather than traders and this means that buyers have fewer rights.

A spokeswoman for ebay said: "We take safety very seriously. When people use Paypal they are protected for up to £250.

"We have over 800 people working in customer support, working to prevent fraud.

"We advise people to check the feedback rating of the person they are considering trading with and ask questions about the item before placing an order."

How to avoid being ripped off

Check the seller's feedback. Contact other users who have dealt with the seller.

Examine the photo in the listing carefully to assess the item's condition.

To avoid misunderstandings contact the seller directly to discuss the quality and origin of an item and the payment and shipping terms.

Consider traditional shipping methods which might include shipping insurance and Cash on Delivery.

Consider using escrow services which ensure risk-free transactions for a small fee.

Use credit cards with agreements that protect buyers against fraudulent transactions.

Be wary of sellers who do not have reliable contact information.

Do not undertake transactions that you would feel uncomfortable about in regular life off the Web. For example verify the trustworthiness of a seller before sending cash.

David Andrew