Looking to buy Eagles playoff tickets? Here’s how to avoid scams.

Many avid Eagles fans weren’t able to score face-value playoff tickets, which sold out in minutes Tuesday morning. For some, the consolation prize is a labor-intensive, weeklong internet search for the best deal on the secondary market.

The Eagles have not had a home playoff game since January 2020, pre-pandemic times, and there are high hopes for this team.

Those factors make demand for tickets especially high — and create a prime environment for scammers.

“I would expect that higher demand would lead scam artists to cast their lines more fruitfully and plentifully to try to seek out more victims,“ said Andrew Goode, vice president of the Better Business Bureau for Metropolitan Washington, D.C., and Eastern Pennsylvania.

Anecdotal reports of attempts to sell counterfeit tickets are rising nationwide, due in part to increased demand as pandemic concerns wane, said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog for the Public Interest Research Group.

At the same time, she said, some consumers may be a bit rusty, out of practice at spotting red flags.

These are Goode’s and Murray’s top tips for avoiding scams and price gouging during the Eagles playoff ticket hunt:

Well-known names are the safest bets, so try to stick with SeatGeek, StubHub, Ticketmaster, and Vivid Seats.

“Those tickets are going to be as close to 100% verified as you can get,” Murray said.

Avoid Facebook, Craigslist, or any avenue that involves buying directly from another person, unless that person is a family member, friend, or coworker you trust.

“I am not saying all tickets for sale on Facebook or Craigslist are counterfeits or scams, but I wouldn’t buy them,” Murray said. “I wouldn’t advise anyone I care about to buy them.”

Sites such as StubHub verify bar codes to ensure that they will get ticket holders into the game, she said, with the only risk being that a scammer has replicated legitimate tickets and sold them on multiple platforms to multiple people.

In the rare case that happens, trusted resellers have policies in place guaranteeing customers get at least a refund, if not another ticket to the game. Murray recommends that prospective buyers find the reseller’s refund policy, in writing, before purchasing tickets.

Some scammers create counterfeit websites that look like legitimate ones.

They don’t have tickets. They just want users’ credit card information.

“People need to be careful about just going and googling ‘Philadelphia Eagles playoffs tickets,’” Murray said. “Because you’re probably going to land on some scam sites.”

As a baseline level of security, look for a padlock signal at the front of the URL bar, Goode advises, and make sure the website address begins with “https.”

Read the URL carefully, too, keeping an eye out for misspellings and missing letters.

“If you’re going to StubHub or Ticketmaster, look to see is there a missing ‘t,’ an added ‘t.’ Is it ‘ticketmast.com’?” Goode said.

People who aren’t sure about a reseller should do a little extra research.

Look up the company through the Better Business Bureau at bbb.com or through its partner organization, the National Association of Ticket Brokers, at natb.org. Most legitimate resellers are members, Goode said.

Do a Google search for reviews and complaints about the company, Murray suggests. If there is a phone number, search for the phone number and then the words fraud or counterfeit. People can also inquire through the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555.

Doublecheck that the section and seat number, if provided, actually exist in the stadium (the Lincoln Financial Field map can be found at lincolnfinancialfield.com/seating-bowl-diagram). If the section doesn’t exist, that’s a red flag.

When comparing ticket prices between resellers, always use the number that appears on the final page, right before credit card information is entered and the purchase is completed. Many sites tack on fees that can jack up prices.

Goode said people should ask: “Are the ticket prices too good to be true, or are they somewhere in line with the marketplace?”

See what other resellers’ prices are for the same section or area of the stadium. If prices are far lower on one site, don’t take a chance.

“The legitimate tickets are going to be expensive,” Murray said, noting that a cheap ticket isn’t worth it if it turns out to be a scam. “You could be without your money and you could be standing in the parking lot at kickoff.”

If prices through trusted resellers are out of your budget, check back in a few days.

“Generally, the closer you get to an event, the prices will lower. The more anticipation time, the higher the prices will be,” Goode said. But “in the case of the Eagles game, that’s going to depend.”

“If Jalen Hurts gets injured in the week before the game in practice, that might cause a change in ticket prices one way or another,” he added. “Or if we learn Lane Johnson or Avonte Maddox do come back in time, that may raise the ticket prices.”

When it comes time to buy, “the most important way to protect yourself is to use your credit card,” Goode said.

Not a debit card. Not a digital payment method such as Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle. Not cash. Not a wire transfer or check.

Someone who does get scammed can report it to the credit card company, which guarantees a level of fraud protection under federal law.

Not only do other forms of payment not guarantee such protection, but they can also put people at risk of identify theft or additional fraud.