Greensboro woman loses $1,000 to Stanley Cup ticket scam

For years, Greensboro resident Rebecca Cornwell has made the hour-and-15-minute drive to Raleigh to cheer on the Carolina Hurricanes. During the regular season, she attends games whenever she can. During the playoffs, she's made it a point to see at least one game in every round.

When the Hurricanes clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, Cornwell hoped to continue that tradition by attending Game 1 at Lenovo Center.

Like thousands of other fans, she logged on over the weekend and joined the online queue for tickets.

"I was about 7,000th in line," Cornwell told WRAL News. "By the time I got in, there were very few tickets left, and the seats that were available were at least $650."

Unwilling to spend that much money, Cornwell decided not to buy.

Almost immediately, she began second-guessing that decision.

When she checked resale sites, she found prices had climbed even higher.

"Everything I saw on the resale market was at least $1,000," she said.

The Facebook group that seemed legitimate

Determined to find a more affordable option, Cornwell turned to a Facebook group called "Carolina Hurricanes Verified Tickets Exchange."

The group appeared legitimate. With more than 10,000 members, it even featured posts offering advice on how fans could avoid being scammed while purchasing tickets.

Cornwell says she connected with the group's administrator, Sandy Stamper, who told her a "verified seller" was offering two tickets to Game 1 for $500 each.

Promises, delays and disappearing accounts

According to Cornwell, Stamper explained that she would act as a middleman. Cornwell would send the money to Stamper, who would then obtain the tickets from the seller through Ticketmaster. Once the tickets were transferred, Stamper would send them to Cornwell and forward the payment to the seller.

At 11:37 a.m. Sunday, Cornwell sent $1,000.

She expected the tickets to arrive shortly afterward.

Instead, hours passed.

Around 2 p.m., Cornwell messaged Stamper, telling her she was growing concerned.

Cornwell says Stamper blamed the delay on the seller and reassured her that the tickets would arrive soon.

They never did.

The following day, Cornwell says Stamper's Facebook account had disappeared.

A trail of complaints

The Facebook group remains active but now appears to be operated by a different administrator.

As she searched online for answers, Cornwell says she discovered numerous complaints involving Stamper and alleged ticket scams. In one case, a person reported losing $3,600.

Now out $1,000 and without tickets, Cornwell says she's sharing her story in hopes of preventing other Hurricanes fans from becoming victims.

Warning other Hurricanes fans

"If speaking out keeps someone else from losing money, it's worth it," she said.

Cornwell has filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Facebook and the North Carolina Department of Justice.

WRAL has reached out to Stamper for comment and is awaiting a response.

Consumer advice from the BBB on how toa void ticket scams:

· Avoid Scammers. A large portion of ticket scams come from social media resellers. These can be individuals leaving comments on posts, online marketplace sellers or people sharing fraudulent tickets to their personal feed. A big tell tale sign of this scam is a screenshotted ticket. Actual live tickets (which have constantly changing barcodes or qr codes) will be accepted at the games and are able to be directly downloaded to your mobile device.

· Buy from reputable vendors. Both teams are operating their ticket sales through their team websites linked to Ticketmaster. You may also find tickets through the arenas hosting each game. When going through a secondary seller, only buy from vendors you know and trust. Look for the lock symbol in the web address to indicate a secure purchasing system. Don’t click through from emails or online ads; a common ticket scam trick is to create a web address that is similar to a well-known company. Check to see if they are a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. NATB members offer a 200% purchase guarantee on tickets. Look up the seller on VerifiedTicketSource.com to confirm you are buying from a NATB-member resale company.

· Research the seller. If you decide to purchase from a third party seller, evaluate their website; look for any design or grammatical errors on the page or domain. See if the seller is an accredited business on bbb.org or if the BBB’s seal is on their site. Check if they are a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers where tickets come with a guarantee.

· Look over policies. Find out how the company prevents fraud and how they may help if it occurs. Gain understanding of how ticket transfers and returns work.

· Call customer service. Before you go to the event, call the venue to check if your ticket is valid.