Police warn football fans of counterfeit tickets ahead of Super Bowl LIII

ATLANTA — It may be the hottest ticket on the planet, but it you are still trying to score a ticket for the Super Bowl, brokers tell Channel 2 Action News you may want to wait until Friday.

Police are warning football fans of counterfeit tickets ahead of Super Bowl LIII. Federal authorities tell us they're cracking down to prevent the sale of fake tickets.

Local ticket broker Kevin Mendel is offering free advice, “I wouldn’t be in a rush and say ‘I gotta buy now.”

The Atlanta man has spent the last week selling his tickets on secondary markets, such as Stubhub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek.

RELATED STORIES:

• Here's how you can see Budweiser Clydesdales in Atlanta ahead of Super Bowl
• Sunshine and rain: Here's what we can expect for Super Bowl weekend in Atlanta
• Falcons' Quinn gives Super Bowl tickets to family of fallen Marine

According to SeatGeek, the cheapest ticket is selling for about $3,500 compared with the average ticket costing more than $6,800.

The most expensive ticket? We check and the most expensive one we found was priced at $117,160.

“Friday is when things could change and that’s really when you need to start looking at it," Mendel said.

He added it’s also  important to remember that there are scammers who are selling counterfeit tickets.

"Only stick to a handful of the maketplace resellers. the online protected ones that you know the big names," Mendel said.

Last year in Minnesota, numerous football fans purchased fake tickets to the big game.

Bryan Cox is the spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations. He spoke to Channel 2's Michael Seiden about their crackdown on fake tickets.

“For criminals, they need to know that we’re watching. We will find you and you face serious penalties and to the public, beware. They are here. People are going to scam you so don’t buy anywhere other than a reputable source," Cox said.

Federal investigators said that although the NFL puts special holograms and other features on tickets that help distinuished real ones from the fakes ones, most people won't be able to tell the difference, which is why it's so important to buy from a reputable source.

Stay with Channel 2 Action News and WSBTV.com for complete Super Bowl LIII coverage leading up to the big game. Download our news app to get FREE alerts sent to phone and tablet and find complete coverage of Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta here

Cox Media Group