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Did you know ticket scammers overcharge you sometimes 10x, 100x, 1000x more than the cost of a ticket?

Make sure you shop smart, safe and secure by purchasing your tickets only at vanwezel.org. We do not partner with, sell to or offer tickets on any other third party vendor site. Do not shop anywhere else, you will only find the best seats and best prices by shopping with us online, by phone or visiting our Box Office.

How to Avoid Online Ticket Scammers

1. Think like a scam artist. Linda Webb, aka "the fraud dog," a fraud expert based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says tapping into the mind of a fraudster sheds light on the red flags to avoid. "Fraudsters look for a need – an event that is sold out and they market to that need," she says. If someone claims to have 100 tickets that they're selling on eBay, for example, that sets off her fraud-alert radar.

2. Refuse to be rushed. Scam artists also try to hurry their victims into making a decision. "It's a sense of urgency to act now – 'I've only got 10 tickets, and you have to do it now or you're not going to get them,'" Webb says. If an online stranger is trying to rush you into a purchase decision, then take that as a warning sign that you might be getting hustled.

3. Make it personal. Before transferring funds to anyone online, give us a phone call, so you talk to a person and find out more details. "Especially in today's world, it's easy to duplicate tickets," she warns. You want to do what you can to verify that the tickets are legitimate.

4. Meet in person if possible. Stop by our Box Office, by following this rule, you'll avoid 99 percent of scams.

5. Don't wire money. MoneyGram or any other wire service, the person is "likely a scammer." One common scam has an alleged buyer overpay for tickets, and then asks the victim (the seller) to send a partial refund. Because the original payment is fake, the victim ends up wiring back their own money to the scam artist.

6. Be extra cautious with hard-to-get tickets to shows featuring a prominent performer, artist or band.

7. Guard your personal information. Online payment giant PayPal warns against sharing personal financial information online with strangers, downloading attachments that could harm your computer and logging into your account via hyperlinks that might take you to fake websites. Fake emails might address you as "Dear Van Wezel user,".

As long as you take these steps to protect yourself, you can shop – and sell – online without worrying too much about getting scammed. Diana, the mother of three who wanted the Thomas tickets, got her money back after filing a dispute with PayPal. But she didn't get what she really wanted, which was tickets for her sons to see their favorite train. Next time, she says she'll stick to using her local mom's list and other more personal sources when trying to land last-minute tickets.

Visit vanwezel.org, call 941.953.3368 or stop by our Box Office for more info.