As thousands prepare to watch the first Seattle-based World Cup game Monday, local police are urging caution as scammers attempt to capitalize on the excitement.
Police advise fans and locals to take the following precautions as they navigate event tickets over the next few weeks.
- Double-check the website address (URL) before entering any personal or payment information.
- Look for misspellings, extra words, unusual characters, or slight variations in the website name
- Be cautious of links received through unsolicited emails, text messages, or social media posts. Instead, type the website address directly into your browser.
- Research unfamiliar sellers before making a purchase. Check reviews and verify that they are authorized vendors.
- Be skeptical of deals that seem too good to be true, especially heavily discounted tickets or exclusive merchandise offers
Police advise that using secure payment methods that offer fraud protection is an important step to protecting your money and your identity. They advise staying away from payment requests via gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency.
There are several indicators’ police classified as “red flags” that should immediately alert a user that they may have encountered scam.
The department warned consumers to be especially cautious of overly urgent messages that claim tickets are “almost gone” or “limited time only”.
Fans and locals should also stay away from requests for person information that is not relevant to the purchase being made, websites with poor grammar or many typos or local quality graphics and broken links.
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