# Counterfeiters cash in on Mavs mania



## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*Team, police urge caution after some fans get scammed by sellers with phony tickets*

*By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News * 



Minutes after handing over $1,800 cash to a neatly dressed man, Brent Russell began wondering whether the four tickets he'd bought for the NBA Finals were fakes. 

They were. So he logged on to eBay again Thursday afternoon and ordered four more. But this time, he brought the Dallas police with him. 

The tickets to the opening game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat didn't seem glossy enough. The perforations for the ticket stub were more like indentations. The tickets weren't cut evenly. And the fine print on the back was blurred. 

With tickets for the championship series selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars apiece, counterfeiters are cashing in on unsuspecting fans like Mr. Russell. 

When the McKinney man returned for the second "purchase," the same seller stepped from the same investment office on North Central Expressway. 

When the seller, Matthew Thomas Bachelder, walked out, police officers took him in. 

"He had the four tickets on him," Detective Thomas said, "and ... [Mr. Russell] identified him." 

The tickets were identical to the ones Mr. Russell had just bought, for the same seats – 4, 5, 6 and 7 in Row E, Section 121, at American Airlines Center. 

Mr. Bachelder was carrying more tickets, too, for the same seats, and $1,000 cash, Detective Thomas said. 

Mr. Russell's money was gone, she said, but he'd had his revenge and tried for more. 

Even after Mr. Bachelder's arrest on charges of criminal simulation, a Class A misdemeanor, a suspected accomplice was still willing to sell tickets when Mr. Russell tried again to buy them on eBay. 

"They were going to meet him again at the same place," Detective Thomas said. "But we think they got spooked when they saw police officers." 

Police have talked with at least one other victim of fake tickets and say there probably are others who are reluctant to come forth. 

"You have to watch out," Sgt. Kent Haben warned. 

The National Basketball Association recommends that fans buy only from the teams or from team-affiliated Web sites that sell tickets to individual games from season ticket holders. 

Many fans, though, turn to online vendors, eBay auctions or even scalpers on the street so they can share their team's ride toward the NBA title. 

That's dangerous, said ticket reseller Ryan Robinson of Plano, because of the possibilities for fraud by buyer and seller alike. 

"The only time I'm on eBay is the regular season when I have a really bad game available," Mr. Robinson said. "Otherwise, I don't bother. There's so much fraud." 

One problem, he said, is that NBA teams, including the Mavericks, accept "e-tickets" from online sales. 

"With e-tickets, you can make a million copies," Mr. Robinson said. 

The first person to arrive with an e-ticket will probably be admitted to a game, NBA officials said. But once that ticket is scanned, others carrying the same number will be rejected. 

Mavs owner Mark Cuban concurred in an e-mail Friday that "with tickets in such huge demand, fans have to be very, very careful." He offered a few cautions to lessen the chance of buying counterfeit tickets. 

"We don't recommend ever buying tickets on the street," he said. 

Season ticket holders sell tickets for individual games through a link to the Mavericks' Internet home page, Mr. Cuban said. 

"But with anyone else, there is a very real risk you could be buying counterfeit tickets," he said. 

"And if you are buying tickets on the secondary market, I would only ever make a purchase by credit card. 

"That way, you can cancel the transaction if something goes wrong." 

But some still take the chance. 

One couple, 40ish and well dressed in a summer casual sort of way, walked up to a "Platinum" entrance to AAC on Thursday night and handed their tickets to the attendant. 

She scanned them electronically. No beep, nothing. She tried again. Silence. 

They conferred quietly for a minute or two, the man arguing his case. People behind them began moving to another line. In the end, the attendant shook her head. 

Angry, the couple walked briskly away. 

"We were scammed," was all the man would say.


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## VeN (May 10, 2005)

fkn disgustin man


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

That's horrible...

But since we are talking about ticket, I've got 4 in Section 121, Row E, Seats 4, 5, 6 and 7 for sale.

:biggrin: j/k


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## mavsmania41 (Mar 27, 2005)

I thought you were talking about me or something I was like what the heck.


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