SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The San Diego Chargers are warning fans to be on the lookout for fake tickets.
The Chargers tell us several hundred fans were turned away at the gates before the Bolts-Cowboys game when they tried to get in with counterfeit tickets.
More and more fans are straying away from the ticket office and going online at places like Craigslist for tickets. Unfortunately that means more fans are falling victim to a very sophisticated scam.
It's a nightmare scenario. You're pumped, you're at the gate, you've spent maybe a couple hundred bucks on tickets, and all of a sudden your counterfeit tickets are denied.
"Unfortunately they can't do anything about it, so you're stuck. You file a police report, who knows if they're going to find the guy," counterfeit ticket victim Alen Bagdasaryan said.
Tickets for this weekend's home game against the Denver Broncos are the most coveted since the Chargers-Cowboys game in September. At that game, the team was forced to turn away the most fans in recent memory because of fake tickets.
"They can't tell the difference between a valid ticket and a counterfeit or fake or fradulent ticket. That's the biggest problem," Chargers spokesman Bill Johnston said.
Counterfeiters are printing tickets and most commonly selling them on Craigslist. So the chargers and San Diego police are urging fans to buy directly from the team to avoid heartbreak at the gate.
"We really want to try to make sure fans don't get taken by the people out on the street," Johnston said.
