Packer Fan Tours In the News
Watch out for Web Packers’ Ticket Scams
by Mike Hoeft, Green Bay Press Gazette
“DontTripltsQ [1:16 AM]: hello were u interested in some season tickets for cheap…let me know…im me or e-mail me”
Stu Goldman of Green Bay knew the above online offer to buy Green Bay Packers’ tickets cheap was not only too good to be true, but impossible.
Officials say Goldman’s skepticism kept him from getting ripped off in an online ticket scam.
“Unless you’re incredibly foolish, you know no one will sell all those tickets under face value,” said Goldman, a stockbroker and Packers fan.
The instant message popped up one night last month on Goldman’s home computer. He e-mailed back about buying and was offered two seats in section 123, six rows up, for all eight home games. Face value of each ticket was $63. The seller would take $1,000 for all 16.
When the seller wanted the money sent first by Western Union, Goldman grew more suspicious and tried to verify the seller’s ownership of the season tickets with the Packers. That’s when the scam unraveled.
Bob Zaspel, an investigator with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, said Goldman is not alone.
“We’ve come across several new ticket scams recently,” Zaspel said at a news conference Wednesday at the Lambeau Field Atrium.
Because of the long waiting list to buy Packers tickets, fans are often conned by fake online offers or classified ads.
“We want to send a strong warning to those looking for tickets not to fall victim to these scams,” he said.
The instant message scam is difficult to track, as screen names can be changed easily. Zaspel said these con artists solicit offers after gathering information from Internet chat rooms. An Internet fraud team is trying to catch the suspect.
In another recent scam, a person claiming to be a season ticketholder tried to auction on e-Bay his rights to four Packers season tickets for $7,000 (tickets not included). The North Carolina resident got 12 bids before officials stopped the offer.
“You can’t transfer season tickets that way. And he wasn’t even a ticketholder,” Zaspel said, adding that prosecutors are considering filing fraud charges.
Mark Wagner, Packers director of ticket operations, said the Packers strictly prohibit transfer of season tickets except within immediate family members or between certain businesses.
Tickets are not available through the team. Packer Fan Tours is the authorized ticket broker for the team.
“It’s very easy to be duped when dealing with the Internet,” said Dennis Garrity, president of Packer Fan Tours and vice president of the National Association of Ticket Brokers.