Watch Out For Seahawks Ticket Scams!
You can buy Seahawks tickets at the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, 7130 W. Grandridge, Ste. C in Kennewick starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow!
But the BBB would like you to be aware of football tickets scams. If you can't make it to the chamber office to snag some Seahawks tickets, there are plenty of other safe ways to buy. Thanks to Danielle Kane with the Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific for the press release below. Purchase safely!
WATCH OUT FOR FOOTBALL TICKET SCAMS
BBB Offers Tips to Avoid Online Ticket Fraud
Richland, Wash. — July 25, 2018 With the kickoff of college sports and professional football season upon us, Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific is advising fans to watch out for phony ticket scams.
According the BBB Scam Tracker, Northwest and Pacific football fans reported losing nearly $4,000 to football related scams last year. Common scams include reselling fake or non-existent tickets on online classifieds, counterfeit merchandise, price gouging, ticket scalping and scammers who use bots to buy thousands of tickets and resell them at inflated prices.
Whether you’re cheering for the the Seattle Seahawks, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, or any other team, BBB advises fans to follow this advice when purchasing tickets and merchandise:
· Pay with protection. Paying with a credit card offers consumers protection if scammed. The credit card company may be able to help obtain a refund if the tickets are fake. Be wary of online sellers that ask to wire money and don’t accept credit cards.
· Verify the tickets. To check the authenticity of tickets, ask for a copy of the seller's invoice or purchasing receipt to check where the seller bought the tickets. It's also recommended to contact the original promoter directly.
· Check out the seller/broker. Before you decide to purchase tickets on other sites, be sure to look the seller up on bbb.org. Secure, legal sites for second-hand purchases include BBB Accredited businesses SeatGeek and Vivid Seats. These sites guarantee their consumers and sellers a secure transaction. It's also wise to check if the seller is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. NATB members offer a 200 percent purchase guarantee on tickets. Look up the seller on VerifiedTicketSource.com to confirm you are buying from an NATB-member resale company.
· Look for secure sites. The website should begin with https (the "s" is for secure) and include a lock symbol on the address bar. Also check the official website for a phone number, physical address and email address. Be wary of sites that rely on a contact form instead of offering a customer service phone number. Contact forms make it hard to reach someone from the company.
· Shop local. If you’re searching for ticket bargains on classified sites and apps such as Craigslist, eBay Classifieds, OfferUp and Letgo, it’s wise to meet sellers in person in a safe, public place.
Any fan who believe they are the victim of a scam is encouraged to report it to BBB Scam Tracker. For more information, consumers can visit www.bbb.org/tickets.
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ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2017, people turned to BBB more than 160 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Northwest & Pacific, which serves more than 15 million consumers in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Hawaii and Western Wyoming.