One of the Dublin fans scammed by an online fraudster says he is "gutted".

Michael Banks, who wanted to purchase an All-Ireland final ticket for his 13-year-old daughter, is one of the many fans who have been tricked by a conman claiming to have tickets for sale on gumtree.ie.

Some victims of the con are even reported to have wired money into the criminal's bank account but, fortunately for Michael, he refused to do so. Instead, he made a fruitless journey to Kerry after the man 'agreed' to sell him two tickets for €200:

"To be honest I feel very stupid for falling for a mindless trick like this," he tells The Irish Daily Mirror. "I've been going to Dublin games for the last 30 years so I was desperate to get a ticket to go and see them play again in another final.

"This guy had nothing to gain by telling me to drive all the way down there, but yet he did it just so I would be out of pocket. Now we're back to square one with no tickets and I've forked out €110 on a tank of petrol to get me up and back to Co Kerry.

"By the time we got back home to Dublin it was around 1.00am so it was bitterly disappointing. We were gutted. I'm just devastated for Megan more so than anything because it would have been her first All-Ireland final.

"She plays GAA for St Mark's here in Tallaght so it would have made her day had she got a ticket.

"I posted on Gumtree saying I'd been scammed and before I knew it there were a few people writing to tell me they had actually transferred the money.

"I suppose it could have been a lot worse. If I had been working I would have transferred him the money in a heartbeat. So it's just as well I didn't. I guess I'm lucky I didn't give him the cash." Tweet

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