"It's a new trend that we've seen escalate in the the past few months, " said Reg Walker, director of security specialists, the Iridium Consultancy.

BBC: Scammers 'using consumer laws'

Reg Walker warned consumers to be cautious about buying from companies they have not previously heard of and which show up as sponsored links.

BBC: Google admits profiting from illegal Olympic ticket ads

"Relying on an automated process is remarkably lax and typing key words into Google can show up illegal sites quite quickly, " says online security adviser, Reg Walker.

BBC: Google admits profiting from illegal Olympic ticket ads