Thousands of college baseball fans around the country are searching for tickets for the NCAA College World Series that begins on June 16th in Omaha.
Better Business Bureau officials are alerting consumers to be on guard for fraudulent sellers when shopping for tickets online. The CWS is big business for Omaha, and where there is big money to be made, scams often follow.
BBB warns that sellers of game tickets on secondary ticket websites may be fraudulent. “The most common ways secondary-ticket sellers scam college baseball fans is by delivering counterfeit tickets or simply not sending the tickets,” says BBB President Jim Hegarty. “Even if the tickets do arrive, they are sometimes not for the seats the seller advertised! This can mean that fans are stuck with seats that aren’t next to each other or are not in the reserved section but are located in the general admission section, which may mean long waits in line and no guarantee to get in.”
To avoid problems buying tickets, the NCAA advises CWS ticket seekers check out ticket information at ncaa.com to find information on what tickets are still available, ticket prices and fan-to-fan ticket exchange information. The NCAA and TD Ameritrade Park, the venue for the CWS, have teamed up to provide secure tickets. If you choose not to go through the NCAA or the TD Ameritrade Park ticket office to buy your tickets, BBB provides advice below for purchasing tickets online for the CWS:
- When buying from a merchant, always check with BBB at bbb.org to be sure that you’re dealing with a company that has a good reputation for satisfying its customers and has a secure website for processing your payment.
- When buying from an individual through an online exchange, don’t be lured away from the website by the seller. Even if you met the seller on the exchange website, the company may not guarantee any lost money if a transaction occurs outside their domain.
- If you buy tickets through an online auction, choose a seller with a long, continuous history of satisfied customers. Scammers can hijack old accounts, so make sure they have recently bought or sold other items.
- Pay with a credit card or through PayPal, which offers protection and potential reimbursement. Never pay with a cashier’s check or wire money to a seller; you’ll have no way to get your money back if the tickets do not arrive.