Heading to the UNC-Duke game? Make sure your ticket is real.
The Duke-UNC basketball game is always a hot ticket, but police are warning ticket-buyers to be make sure their tickets are real before going to the game.
As Duke and UNC gets ready for Round 2 of the basketball rivalry Saturday night in Chapel Hill, police have put out an alert about counterfeit tickets.
While such warnings often are issued, this one comes after police in Carrboro and Raleigh arrested a Virginia man for trying to sell fake tickets to Triangle events.
Carrboro police arrested Timothy Hasan Sumer, 30, of Arlington, Va., on Feb. 20 for trying to sell counterfeit tickets to the UNC-Duke game at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. He was charged with two counts of attempting to obtain property by false pretense and criminal use of a counterfeit trademark. Both are felonies.
Police say he tried to sell eight tickets for about $900 apiece on Craigslist.
In Raleigh, police accused him Friday of selling fake tickets to games and concerts at the PNC Arena. They charged him with seven counts of obtaining property by false pretense, 12 counts of attempted obtaining property by false pretense and 19 counts of criminal use of a counterfeit trademark in connection with selling fraudulent tickets, police say.
Raleigh detectives say they found many similarities between the cases they were investigating and evidence gathered by Carrboro police.
In a news release, Raleigh police offered these tips to avoid purchasing fake tickets:
▪ Buy from vendors you trust. That includes buying from the venue.
▪ If you’re buying from an individual, ask for the seller’s receipt for the tickets as well as request to see their government ID.
▪ When you get your ticket, be sure to check it closely. If you’re not sure about it, verify it with the venue.
▪ If you have a hot ticket, it’s tempting to post a picture of it on social media. Venues and police highly recommend you don’t do that.
▪ When you buy your ticket, “use a payment method that comes with protection.”
▪ And don’t forget to double check the ticket refund policy.
Saturday’s game is at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Heading to the UNC-Duke game? Make sure your ticket is real.."