Skip the Scams - Seven Tips for Super Bowl Ticket Buyers

Super Bowl XLV will pit the Green Bay Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, February 6, 2011. The National Football League (NFL) anticipates selling more than 90,000 tickets to this year's Super Bowl game.

No faking! When the year's top two NFL teams face off, will you have genuine tickets to the big game?

As game day approaches for Super Bowl XLV, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) and other consumer protection groups offer specific tips for spotting fake Super Bowl tickets and recognizing genuine tickets to the big game.

Pennsylvania's Acting Attorney General Bill Ryan voiced this warning about Super Bowl ticket scams: "It is important for football fans to carefully review the details of any ticket offer or travel promotion before handing over cash or credit card information," Bill Ryan said. "Scam artists are counting on the fact that enthusiastic fans will get caught up

Here are seven practical pointers for identifying real Super Bowl tickets and ruling out fraudulent or counterfeit Super Bowl tickets this year.

Choose reputable ticket vendors, if you purchase tickets to the Super Bowl.

Brick-and-mortar stores and recognized Super Bowl ticket sellers will likely be approved by the Better Business Bureau and perhaps the NFL as well. Smart sports fans may be able to avoid Super Bowl ticket scams by purchasing from familiar or established ticket vendors.

Ethical and professional sellers of Super Bowl tickets are likely to be members of the NATB. This national ticket broker organization works with NFL and other professional sports teams, as well as legislatures and law enforcement groups, to fight counterfeiting and stolen tickets to major events like the Super Bowl.

The National Association of Ticket Brokers also lists available Super Bowl tickets from various vendors in an online database. (For example, at time of publication, 108 Super Bowl ticket listings offered tickets to the big game, with prices ranging from $375 to $30,000 apiece.)

Exercise caution, if buying Super Bowl tickets online.

Football fans may be tempted to seek Super Bowl tickets in classified ads or from unknown sellers on blogs, Craigslist, eBay auctions or other publicly accessible selling opportunities. This may be a risky endeavor, as Super Bowl ticket scams abound.

"Consumers need to be especially cautious when purchasing tickets from an online third-party," said Michelle Reinen, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (in a January 24, 2011 statement). "Fraudulent ticket offers often appear on websites like Craigslist and in other classified advertisements."

Online shoppers need to ensure they are dealing with secure internet sites before entering their own personal and purchasing information to obtain Super Bowl tickets.

Examine Super Bowl tickets carefully before purchasing.

Like new currency, today's Super Bowl tickets are designed to prevent counterfeiting. Genuine Super Bowl tickets will be printed on heavy cardstock paper with raised ink, official bar codes and a heat-sensitive hologram. On a real Super Bowl ticket, this shiny hologram will vanish for a moment, if a person presses a warm thumb against it.

Football fans who plan to buy Super Bowl tickets online, by telephone or through the mail should ask ticket vendors to send faxed or emailed images of the tickets before the purchase is made.

Smart shoppers will pore over Super Bowl tickets, checking the time, date, location and other details for perfect accuracy. More than once, folks ordering multiple Super Bowl tickets have discovered ticket fraud by noticing that offered tickets had misprints, wrong dates, duplicate seat assignments or other discrepancies.

"In past years, our office has received complaints from consumers who have fallen victim to phony travel agents and ticket sellers," recounted Pennsylvania's Bill Ryan. "In some of those cases, consumers learned at the gate that their tickets were counterfeit and they were denied entry."

Purchase Super Bowl tickets with a credit card.

Football fans should avoid paying cash for Super Bowl ticket purchases. By using a credit card, a sports fan can keep a record of the Super Bowl ticket purchase. As a bonus, most credit card companies offer purchase protections, in case Super Bowl tickets fail to arrive or prove to be fake.

Plus, credit card purchases create paper trails, making prosecution of potential Super Bowl ticket fraud simpler for law enforcement authorizes.

Report Super Bowl ticket fraud immediately.

Sports fans who do wind up with undelivered or fake Super Bowl tickets need to alert authorities immediately. Prompt reporting of Super Bowl ticket fraud may maximize the ticket purchaser's chances of timely recourse (perhaps even before the big game), and it also may prevent other Super Bowl fans from falling prey to the same ticket counterfeiter or scammer.

The NATB offers a hotline for reporting Super Bowl ticket fraud: 1-630-510-4594.

Don't leave for Dallas without having genuine Super Bowl tickets in hand.

Each year, hundreds of football fans actually show up at the Super Bowl empty-handed, hoping to purchase tickets (often at exorbitant mark-ups) on-site at the stadium. Many of these sports enthusiasts are disappointed to find themselves locked out of the Super Bowl after spending big money for travel, hotel and other expenses.

"Before hopping on a plane for Texas, make sure you have the official game tickets in your procession," the Bureau of Consumer Protection's Michelle Reinen warned.

Scalping of Super Bowl tickets is illegal at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. On-site sellers and buyers of Super Bowl tickets may be arrested at the stadium.

Be cautious when purchasing Super Bowl tickets to avoid fraud.

"These days, with all the scams out there, we find ourselves repeating a common phrase when it comes to consumer protection," added the Consumer Protection Bureau's Michelle Reinen. "If an offer seems too good to be true - it probably is."