DENVER — Tickets for Game 1 of the NBA Finals are not cheap – as of Tuesday afternoon the least expensive ticket is listed on Seat Geek for $546 – the most expensive is $620 on Ticketmaster.
While the tickets are costly the processing fees attached to them are just as expensive.
"It's like paying for another ticket in another part of the arena, it's crazy," David Alarcon, a major Nuggets fan, told 9NEWS. Alarcon and his brother have attended a number of playoff games but the Coloradan said he decided to skip the reputable ticket website and go somewhere else to find seats.
"So I've joined a couple of Facebook groups and luckily these Facebook groups they seem to run very well, like there's a verified season ticket holder list so you can know that you're buying from someone who has been verified by the admin of this page to actually be a season ticket holder," Alarcon said.
"If it seems to good to be true, it probably is and that would be the worst thing, like you pay a lot of money and you don't even get a ticket for the game."
That's a nightmare Roseann Freitas with the Better Business Bureau said is a reality for some. Freitas spoke to 9NEWS about what scams to watch out for.
Have we seen ticket scams in this region?
Freitas: So what I can tell you, as of January of this year, we had received over 140 reports about ticket-type scams related to different events, sporting, concert theatre.
We know they’re out there. They’re happening, especially now as we’ve come out of the pandemic right, we weren't able to go to anything for a long time and now we are and what also has changed is how we get our tickets to a lot of times in the past you would go to the box office. You would call them, you would purchase that way and they would send you your tickets. Nowadays, you’re getting tickets a lot of times digitally which really opens up the door again for additional scammers.
How has technology changed ticket scams?
Freitas: It makes it so much more convenient but at the same time, anytime that happens we know the scammers are going to step into that market. Especially now because people’s emotions are high right, they want to catch the big game, they’re excited about the Nuggets. So they’re going to try and take advantage of that and that is go out there like the legit companies are and start to offer these tickets and they’re going to look very legitimate.
We know now, especially as we start to talk about the new technology from AI, ChatGPT these scams are even harder to notice anymore, they look legitimate. So people are really going to have to be careful when they start to do that shopping and take that emotional side out of it and start to think rationally.
What are tips to keep in mind?
Freitas: These tickets are going to be a hot item so you’re probably not going to find them discounted and that’s the one thing we’re looking for right, is that good deal, but remember when something is in high demand and it has a limited supply, it’s not gonna be discounted.
So if you start to see discounted tickets be nervous, be questionable, think that’s a red flag right there, but the big thing is purchase from people who you know that are legitimate and there are ways you can verify the legitimacy of this company. One, you can check BBB.org but also there is the National Association of Ticket Brokers so you can check with them as well to see who works with them because there are protections if you buy from one of their companies because they’re legitimate companies.
So we have a few things going on in the market, you have your legitimate ticket brokers, you also have your scalpers you remember them, and then you have your scammers so you have three different things going on. The one that’s going to provide you that protection is that legitimate professional organization so make sure when you purchase you’re purchasing through one of those.
What about purchases from people who claim to be season ticket holders and use PayPal to receive payment?
Freitas: PayPal does have some protections. The challenge is even if you order the tickets and you pay it and you authorize that payment and turns out that person is a scammer, they may not refund your money. That’s always the chance even with any type of purchasing is you agree to the transaction so we can’t always rely on those to protect us.
There’s a risk and with risk you could lose money or you could not lose money but there’s always that risk.
If [someone] bought from the same person before the same ticketholders for years yea, [they] might feel good about that situation, but still it’s always a risk.
Always do your homework up front and think when it comes to your money, think through your brain, think more rationally, don't think with your heart save that for the game.
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