CHARLOTTE, NC - The opportunity for sports fans to be scammed by fake ticket sellers occurs most often when people buy tickets from individuals outside the venue on the street, or through online auctions, classifieds and bulletin boards.

“The most common way sports fans are getting burned is by either paying for counterfeit tickets or paying in advance for tickets that never arrive,” said BBB President Tom Bartholomy.

The secondary ticket market for sporting and entertainment events, which includes tickets bought and sold by professional brokers, speculators and season ticket holders, is a $10 billion dollar per year industry.

“The internet has become the arena of choice for sports fans looking to buy or sell tickets,” said Bartholomy. “It has also become a breeding ground for scammers looking to take advantage of sports fans.”  

The BBB’s database includes reputable, secondary market, ticket firms that provide buyer protections including money back guarantees on the legitimacy of tickets.

StubHub (BBB Grade A+) and RazorGator (BBB Grade A+) require that sellers provide credit-card numbers as a protection to buyers. If the seller’s tickets are fake, the seller’s credit card gets charged for the cost of replacement tickets.

The BBB offers the following advice when buying tickets:

-Be careful buying tickets from someone on the street. When you get to the gate and find out your tickets aren’t real, the seller will be long gone.

-When buying from an online ticket broker, look for the BBB seal so you know that you are dealing with a company that has a good reputation and a secure website for processing your payment.

-If you buy tickets through eBay, choose a seller with a long history of satisfied customers.

-Scammers can hijack old accounts, so make sure the seller has recently sold other tickets.

-Ticket buyers should also conduct ticket sales transactions through the online site and not be lured away by a seller who would prefer to conduct the transaction privately.

-If you are buying tickets through Craiglist, never pay the seller by wire transfer. You will have no way to get your money back if the tickets do not arrive or are counterfeit. Buy from a local seller and you will have to pay with cash.

For more information, please visit BBB or call 1-877-317-7236 toll-free in N.C. and S.C.