BBB says beware of fake ticket scams during March Madness

March is all about basketball for many. There’s Dayton’s The Big Hoopla, the

First Four NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s beginning here in Dayton, and the rest of the March Madness games. With such high demand for these popular events, tickets can be scarce. If you’re considering attending these events, be sure you’re don’t get scammed.

According to Zelle, ticket scams occur when a scammer tricks you into sending them money in exchange for a non-existing ticket. This could be a counterfeit ticket complete with forged barcodes and real company logos or a photocopy of a genuine ticket already sold. Last year, BBB’s Scam Tracker reported 519 scams relating to tickets. In fact, 23 reports out of the 519 Scam Tracker reports that mention “tickets” were for sporting events in 2023.

To help you purchase tickets without getting scammed, the Better Business Bureau offers these tips:

■ Buy tickets directly from the venue if possible.

■ Research the seller and look at past buyer’s experience.

Also, get recommendations from friends and family about whom they’ve purchased from in the past.

■ Understand the difference between sellers. Professional ticket brokers are legitimate and accredited resellers. A ticket scalper is an unregulated and unlicensed ticket seller.

■ Look for a seller/broker who’s a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB). NATB members offer a 200% purchase guarantee on tickets. To confirm you’re buying from a NATB-member resale company, look up the seller on VerifiedTicketSource.com.

■ Don’t click through suspicious emails, online ads or social media messages.

■ Use good judgement when looking online for tickets. Some ads will be scams, especially if the prices are low.

■ Pay with a credit card so you have some recourse if you need to dispute charges. Consider it a red flag if the seller is requesting payment by debit card, wire transfers or cashs.

■ Buy online only from vendors you know and trust. Look for the lock symbol in the web address to indicate a secure purchasing system.

■ Visit where the event will be held and present your ticket to “Will Call” or customer service to verify it is legitimate.

■ Always buy from a reseller who provides detailed terms of the transaction. Before purchasing, sellers should disclose the location of the seats represented by the tickets, either orally or by reference to a seating chart and, if the tickets aren’t available for immediate access, disclose when they will ship or be available for pick up.