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Southend United warns against scam ticket sellers

Martin Heath
BBC News, Essex
Martin Heath/BBC Screen of a smartphone in a light blue case, held by someone's left hand. It shows an X post with the details blurred out and the text "Pair spare tickets for National League Playoff Final are up for sale? Anyone keen? Message me."Martin Heath/BBC
Southend United told fans not to buy from third parties

Southend United fans have been warned not to buy tickets for their National League play-off final from individual sellers in case they get scammed.

One seller offered tickets at £120 a pair on X, but made no further once money was handed over.

A typical ticket for the match against Oldham at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, bought via the club, has cost £35.

However, tickets have been selling out quickly, and fans and local politicians have been calling for the seat allocations to be increased.

A limit of 17,500 tickets per club were initially imposed due to the closure of Wembley Park station on the day of the fixture for engineering work.

More tickets were eventually made available after extra train services were laid on at nearby stations.

Southend has also been selling additional coach and ticket packages for fans.

PA Media Concrete steps with railings on which people are ascending and descending. There is a blue hoarding on the side of the roof which says WEMBLEY PARK in white writing. A sign in the distance above the top of the stairs says WEMBLEY PARK STATION.PA Media
Tickets for the play-off final on Sunday are not easy to get after numbers were restricted due to the closure of Wembley Park station

BBC journalist Anna Doble, who wanted tickets for her partner who is an avid er, lost money after she responded to an X post.

"The one I engaged with was a proper Southend fan who has often tweeted about the club," she explained.

"He sent out several tweets saying 'two tickets to spare for the play-off final'.

"We haggled a price, although he was definitely going for a lot more than face value."

Having settled for £110, reduced from £120, Doble became suspicious and requested details of the seat numbers.

The seller responded with details, and Doble sent them half the fee, offering to send the second half once the tickets were handed over.

"[But] he started to say 'they're actually my dad's tickets - I can't send you them until he's happy and he wants the full amount'."

Nadira Tudor/BBC A long line of between 30 and 40 people queuing at the entrance to Southend United's ticket office, which is a small blue and white building. Outside it is a gravel car park with the queue winding through it.Nadira Tudor/BBC
Hundreds of Southend fans queued at the club's ticket office on Monday

Doble told the seller they would not get any more money until she got the tickets and, after promising to sort it out, they went silent.

However, the profile remained active on X, still offering pairs of tickets. Fans have been restricted to buying no more than four tickets.

Doble says she finds it difficult to believe that "any Southend fan would be doing over other Southend fans."

A spokesperson for the club said it had received a report of a scam and was looking into it.

The spokesperson advised ers to buy directly through the club and not through third parties.

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