The Carolina Panthers are going to the Playoffs and football fans who can’t get tickets through Ticketmaster on Tuesday will be scrambling to buy tickets on the secondary market. Fans are also eager to buy team-branded merchandise. The Better Business Bureau warns football fans to watch out for fake tickets and counterfeit merchandise.

 

Tickets

“If you want to go to see the Carolina Panthers and are looking for tickets, BBB urges you to pay a little extra money to buy tickets from a reputable online ticket broker that has a money-back guarantee,” said BBB President Tom Bartholomy.

“Football fans are more likely to be scammed by fake tickets if they buy them on the street before the game or through online classifieds such as Craigslist that do not have a money-back guarantee,” added Bartholomy.

If you are looking for tickets, BBB recommends buying from the NFL Ticket Exchange and these reputable, secondary market, ticket firms that provide buyer protections including money back guarantees on the legitimacy of tickets.

1)      TicketsNow (BBB grade A+) verifies tickets sold online and sends you the tickets via email immediately after you purchase them.

2)     StubHub (BBB grade A+) requires sellers to provide credit-card numbers as a protection to buyers and they provide buyers with a telephone number of their on-site staff person who will get you new tickets if your original tickets are fake.

3)     RazorGator (BBB grade A+) requires sellers to 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.

BBB has four tips for football fans looking for tickets:

1. If you are buying tickets on the street before the game, be very careful. When you get to the gate and find out your tickets aren’t real, the seller will be long gone. To minimize the risk, you should find out what a real ticket looks like so you will know if the one you are buying looks real.

2. If you are 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. You should conduct the sales transaction through the online site. Don’t be lured away by a seller who would prefer to conduct the transaction privately.

3. If you are buying tickets through Craigslist, you should never pay the seller by wire transfer or prepaid debit card such as the Green Dot card. You will have no way to get your money back if the tickets are counterfeit.

4. If you are buying from a local seller whom you do not know, you should meet the seller in a public place to conduct the transaction, so that you don’t get robbed.

Counterfeit Merchandise

Not only will scammers look to profit from fake tickets, but they will also be selling counterfeit merchandise that is not licensed by the NFL or the Carolina Panthers.

BBB urges football fans to buy merchandise from the Official Team Store at Bank of America stadium and authorized retailers. BBB warns that merchandise sold via pop-up stands on street corners and in parking lots is most likely counterfeit.

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