Cork woman Emily O’Sullivan was scammed out of more than €400 while booking the first holiday for her family in four years.
As part of the trip to France, the mum of four secured what she thought were two tickets to see Ireland V Belgium on Saturday 18th June.
She told The Pat Kenny Show this morning that she had originally applied through Uefa but failed to get selected.
She then found what she thought “looked like a legitimate site” and called the number supplied to check out the company.
Speaking to Newstalk, Emily said: “It all sounded great. I spoke to a man and paid for the tickets over the phone.”
She received an email a couple of weeks later saying the tickets would be with them on June 6th and when they failed to arrive, she contacted the company.
“The email came back undelivered,” the Cork mum explained.
When she logged onto the website she found the domain name have been put up for sale and the phone number was no longer in service.
“At that moment I realised what was taking place.”
Unfortunately for Emily she has been unable to claim the money back through her bank as she purchased the tickets via Visa Debit card.
Dermott Jewell, from the Consumer Association of Ireland, said Emily's ability to make a call to someone, and for them to answer, made the situation "unique" and different from other scams.
He reiterated Uefa's advice to "go through official channels," and pay by Credit Card if you do want to purchase online.
"With Credit Cards there is a very strong banking structure acting on your behalf,” he added.
Emily said the moment she told her children was sickening.
She says her youngest boy "completely fell apart," while her eldest tried to hide his disappointment.
“It’s not even about the money anymore. I feel like I’ve broken a promise to my kids,” she said.
“Holidays are not cheap and I worked long hard hours to put this together.”
The Cork mum remains hopeful about the holiday however: “If we can’t get tickets, we’ll just have to make the best out of a bad situation.”
