Hockey fan has warning for ticket buyers after being scammed out of $550

By Brett Knese

Click here for updates on this story

    WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina (WRAL) — Playoff hockey fever cost a Wake County woman hundreds of dollars.

She wants to send out a warning that scammers are taking advantage of that fever.

Looking back, Heather Tokos now knows some of the mistakes she made and wants people to be careful whether you’re buying tickets for a hockey game or any kind of event.

What Canes fan wouldn’t want to be among a playoff crowd like the ones we’ve seen in the playoffs?

Tokos wanted her family to be there as well. They are New York Rangers fans who relocated to Wake Forest and wanted tickets at the last minute.

“It was like eight in the morning, chaos getting ready for school and work and everything. I saw it and thought it would be a fun surprise for everyone,” Tokos said.

It was based off a post she saw on Facebook. She sent $550 for the set of tickets. Tokos even told them in her chat she was not a scammer and shared details about her family.

“It is scary,” she said. “It’s really freaky.”

But after sending the money through Venmo, she never got the tickets.

A lot of us have apps on our phones like Ticketmaster, StubHub and Seat Geek. These sites offer a variety of protections and guarantees for the buyer. But when you get on social media to buy tickets, that’s when things can go wrong.

Nick Hill with the Better Business Bureau said if the Canes can advance, the scamming will increase.

“You just have to be so careful on social media because a lot of these deals that seem really good are in fact scams,” Hill said.

“Before you buy from another person on social media, make sure you check out their profile so you can go on and see if they have any activity,” Hill said. “See if they have any pictures, if they’ve made posts. See if they have friends.”

Tokos said she did some of that but after a closer look, she now sees what she missed.

“I mean it was her wedding pictures and her baby’s pictures on her profile so I thought it was legit,” Tokos said.

Fans will be filling the bars and restaurants in downtown Raleigh for Game 5. They’re hopeful there will be another game at PNC Arena on Thursday but the Canes have to win Monday night to make it happen.

If that happens, a lot of people will once again be clamoring for tickets. Tokos says the biggest lesson is take your time and make sure it’s legit before paying.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.