With the Detroit Lions returning to the playoffs and tickets in high demand for games at Ford Field, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reminding fans to stay alert for ticket scams.
The cheapest tickets on resale sites like StubHub for Saturday night's divisional-round game against the Washington Commanders are going for nearly $600 before fees.
The AG's office said people have several ways to scam ticket-buyers and sellers out of their money. Two of those ways involve payment or money app scams and fake check scams.
She's warning people about using peer-to-peer (P2P) money apps like Apple, Cash App, Circle Pay, Facebook Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Squre Cash, Venmo, Zelle and more.
P2P scams can take many forms and require an extra degree of caution to be given to any transaction with someone you do not know. Be aware of the following scams when using a pay app:
- Scammers impersonating your bank may call to alert you about “suspicious activity” on your account and direct you to send money to yourself or “the bank’s address” to reverse a transaction or to verify the account is not frozen. Your bank will never tell you to send money to anyone, not even yourself.
- Fraudsters claim to represent a fraud department or merchant and ask you to confirm information such as your bank account username and password, credit card or debit card data, or Social Security numbers. Do not share this information — scammers want to create a P2P account with your information, steal your identity, and gain access to your accounts.
- Fraudsters send spoofed emails warning that an account is about to be suspended and that the account holder must enter their password on a spoofed webpage. Generally, payment app vendors will never ask you to enter your password unless you are on the login page.
“As we aim to make Ford Field an unbelievable atmosphere, it’s important to be aware of scammers trying to take advantage of your excitement,” Nessel said. “If you’re buying tickets to the divisional round, and hopefully the championship round, at Ford Field, make sure they are authentic, not just screenshots of bogus tickets. Staying alert will help protect you and your wallet, allowing you to cheer on the Lions all the way to the Super Bowl.”
The AG's office has these tips to protect yourself:
- Know your vendor: Make sure you're buying from a reputable website
- Do your research: If you're unfamiliar with a particular ticket vendor, you can call the AG's Consumer Protection Team at 877-765-8388
- Use credit cards, that way you have protections
- Shop securely: Look for "https" on sites
If you try to sell legitimate tickets online, scammers may use the fake check scam [links-2.govdelivery.com] to steal your money. A potential buyer makes an offer and sends a check — perhaps even a cashier's check — for considerably more than the cost of the tickets and pretends it’s an error. They ask the seller to deposit the check and refund them the difference. But the check is a counterfeit, and the seller is scammed out of their money plus any other funds from the fake check, as well as bank fees. Banks do not assume those losses.
