With preseason football underway and Seahawks fever in full effect, authorities are warning people to be aware of ticket scams.
Prior to the second preseason game of the year, police were able to nab a person for selling stolen tickets, but they expect the scams to continue.
For games this year, most tickets on the secondary market will cost fans more than $250, making the scams more likely than ever to happen.
The problem started after Justin put a tablet up for sale on the website OfferUp, a Bellevue-based company that allows people to buy and sell items to people nearby, but some people choose to do exchanges instead.
On the website, Justin was offered the stolen Seahawks tickets in exchange for his tablet, thinking he struck gold.
After accepting the deal, Stevens met the ticketholder for the exchange.
"That was all the 12th Man fever, man," Stevens explained. "The next morning I thought, 'That's the stupidest thing I could have done.' I was like, 'It really doesn't make sense, a blind man could see it.'"
After calling the Seahawks box office and finding out the tickets were indeed stolen, Stevens reached out to the King County Sheriff's Office, who took the case.
The Sheriff's Office had Stevens set up another exchange with the suspect for two additional Seahawks tickets, but at the second exchange, instead of getting a tablet, the suspect found himself in handcuffs.
"It was something straight out of 'Cops.’ It was really incredible," Stevens said.
http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/s ... /32298835/
