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Sport and music could fans face losing hundreds or thousands of pounds this summer unless they buy event tickets from official sources.

One tennis fan has already lost £11,000 after the four tickets he bought for the Wimbledon tennis semi-finals failed to materialise.

And there are reports that tickets for the men's final are being offered online for £22,000.

With a possible Andy Murray final on the cards, the Ashes being held later this summer and a sold-out tour by Irish rock gods U2 due to hit the UK in August, there are fears many could be left chasing tickets that never existed.

Trading Standards spokesman Tony Northcott said: "You should only use the officially recognised website and if you use anything else you are taking a risk.

"The only thing we can advise is that people pay with their credit card."

Wimbledon says its lawyers are investigating the website www.onlinewimbledontickets.com.

Made to look like the official Wimbledon site, it quotes ticket prices for the men's final as £2,868 and pops up as a prime advertiser on Google.

But police have been told that one Romanian businessman lost £11,000 after ordering four tickets that never turned up.

Mr Northcott said many of the sites were foreign, and based on scams made notorious by Nigerian criminals who fleeced people out of cash through email appeals.

"Sites are springing up all the time and they originate from all over the world," Mr Northcott said.

"You can guarantee they won't be in the UK - many of them are a slant on the Nigerian scam."

Other genuine sites such as Seatwave are offering women's final tickets for more than £500, with the price of men's final tickets on eBay rising to £3,000.

The Wimbledon website releases several hundred tickets for purchase online every evening.

However, those buying online tickets must provide photo ID before entering the grounds.

Apart from official outlets, the All England Club says the only way tennis fans can buy tickets legally is through the debenture scheme.

And even that is fraught with risk.

Debenture tickets holders paid £23,150 to secure their Centre Court tickets for five years but are legally allowed to sell them.

A Wimbledon spokesman said: "We would suggest asking the seller for the serial number which the buyer can cross reference with us.

"But if you are trying to get hold of a debenture ticket in a rush two days before the final then you are asking for trouble."

Online ticket retailer Viagogo is offering pairs of debenture tickets for the men's final for £10,878.

A statement on the website says anyone who purchases tickets on the site will receive a 100% refund if Murray wins the title.

Viagogo chief executive Eric Baker said: "Before Murray's game yesterday tickets for the semi-finals were trading for an average of £1,500.

"In the few hours after he won, the price rocketed by 180%.

"If he wins his semi-final, tickets for the final are sure be well in excess of £10,000 and may even be closer to £20,000.

"We have never seen anything like this and we could be set for a UK record for the most expensive tickets ever bought."