Officials warn against counterfeit tickets for pope visit

With tickets for Pope Francis' Philadelphia visit in high demand, officials are warning people against counterfeits.

Within 30 seconds, the 10,000 free tickets made available online last night for the Sept. 27 Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway were gone. Earlier, it took only two minutes for the same amount of free tickets to the Sept. 26 closing ceremonies of the World Meeting of Families on the parkway to be snatched up.

Anyone can attend the two parkway events, but tickets are required to get spots in the front viewing section, within about 2 1/2 blocks of the stage or altar.

With so few tickets made available, event organizers are warning the public from turning to bogus websites to get tickets. The public should also be weary of scalpers using sites like Craigslist and eBay to sell tickets for a profit.

For weeks, scalpers have been using Craigslist and eBay to sell SEPTA train tickets for as much as $40, even though SEPTA still has tens of thousands of tickets available for sale. The face value is $10.

The Better Business Bureau released the following tips to help avoid a ticket-selling scam:

• Do your research;
• Know the total price;
• It if sounds too-good-to-be-true, it probably is;
• Pay with a credit card or a PayPal account;
• Keep a record of your purchase;
• Ask to see the seller's proof of purchase.