Around half a million Australians have been scammed purchasing event tickets off auction sites in the past 12 months alone, new research has shown.

Nine in 10 Australians are sceptical about the trustworthiness of ticket resellers on auction sites, and for good reason with 81% of ticket scam victims buying their second-hand tickets through sites such as Gumtree and eBay.

Eric Baker, chief executive of ticket marketplace Viagogo, said the Galaxy survey of 1,000 Australians shows how large a challenge it is to find a safe way to buy tickets to sold-out events.

“eBay and Gumtree are fuelling the problem, a problem we’re looking to address by making sure ticket sellers don’t get paid until the buyer of the ticket goes to the event.”

The international website has launched Down Under today, introducing a secure online platform where users can buy and sell event tickets to the market.

The service is headquartered in Switzerland and is currently active in almost 50 countries. The site also partners with sporting organisations to help them regulate the resale of their event tickets, including the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and Manchester City.