Scammers target Longhorns' fans as UT prepares for college football playoffs debut

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas Longhorns are preparing to make their first appearance in the college football playoffs.

They’ll take on Washington in New Orleans on Jan. 1, and tickets to this game will be a hot commodity, especially on resale sites.

While it’s an exciting time for Longhorns fans, it also opens the door for scammers to make their move.

It’s an exciting time to be a UT Football fan, as the Longhorns are selected to play in their first-ever college football playoff game.

It’s also a time when scammers strike, looking for fans trying to find a deal on a ticket to the New Orleans game.

The Better Business Bureau says one of the first signs of a scam is the tickets are cheap. Too cheap.

“A lot of deep discounts, be leery,” said Better Business Bureau senior director of media relations Jason Meza. “Your gut should tell you something like it probably should go for this much, but there’s a really big cheap ticket on sale.”

Paisley Porter has been down the scammed road before.

“I got to the door, and I went to go scan my ticket, and they told me somebody else has already scanned this in,” she said.

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Porter bought a ticket for the UT- Alabama game last year and couldn’t believe her luck when scoring a ticket for just $30.

The BBB also says to beware of those sad stories.

It could be a way to hook ‘em and not in the way Longhorns fans want.

“It’s just the perfect scenario or the perfect sad story, where we couldn’t use them,” said Meza.

The BBB also says you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to buy your ticket, because that’s when the possibility of being scammed increases, and do your research.

“Finding out what the general ticket price is, what the market is bearing, and when you see the deep discounts, when you see the almost free option, but we have to get rid of the tickets, because of a sad situation, that can pose a problem; that can be a scheme in itself.”

Another tip, try to avoid third-party companies if possible and buy directly from UT or a reputable, well-known company, like Ticketmaster.

Gabriel Ochoa knows a thing or two about buying from those third-party resellers.

He made it a point to come up to us, so others could heed his warning.

“Do not buy them off GroupMe!” he said. “I feel like there’s a lot of opportunities to get scammed off on GroupMe. Scammers join, they say, ‘Hey, I’m selling this ticket,’ and people end up falling for it.”

If you’ve been scammed, let the Better Business Bureau know, because that’s the only way they know and can let others know to stay away from certain sellers.