Be careful, Cardinal Nation. Tickets for playoff games sold on the secondary market could be scams, according to the St. Louis Better Business Bureau.
The Internet has become the go-to place for sports fans looking to buy or sell tickets, notes the BBB, but it is also a breeding ground for scammers. There have been cases of counterfeit tickets sold for local entertainment events, including a Bruno Mars concert at Scottrade Center and the English Premier League soccer match at Busch Stadium in May 2013.
In some cases, scammers purchase one ticket and then print dozens of copies. The tickets appear to be authentic, but they share a bar code that will scan correctly only once, leaving holders of fake tickets out in the cold.
Chris Thetford of the BBB said consumers should research online ticket sources before buying from them. And they should use credit cards, instead of debit cards or wiring money. That's because consumers can challenge bogus charges with their credit card companies.
“When people buy tickets online they need to be careful to make sure that they’re actually buying from someone that they can trust -- because not only do they not want to lose the money that they’re paying for the tickets, but they also don’t want to lose the experience,’’ Thetford said.
Thetford says fake ticket sellers can take advantage of the Red October hype, luring fans who missed the chance to buy their tickets directly from the Cardinals or legitimate secondary-market sites, such as stubhub.com.
Here are a few additional tips:
* When purchasing online, check the website's rules to see if it requires sellers to provide a credit card number to do business on the site. If the tickets you purchase don’t end up working for you, the seller’s credit card can be charged.
* Remember that wiring money to a ticket seller is like paying cash -- and you have little recourse for getting a refund if the ticket’s bar code won’t work.
* Be cautious when buying tickets on the street outside of a venue. The BBB recommends that you ask the person you’re purchasing from to go with you to the gate. Don’t pay for the ticket until the scanner reads the ticket. Thetford says it’s a bad sign if the ticket seller won’t accompany you to the gate.
“Since most of those transactions are cash-based you need to understand that you’re giving cash to somebody and the odds of ever getting it back if there’s a problem are not good,’’ he said.
