College basketball is over. Now it’s time for professional basketball and baseball fans to rejoice.

While attending these events can be a lot of fun for the whole family, there are some people out there just looking to make a quick buck.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office recently warned consumers about the dangers of buying event tickets from unfamiliar or unsecured online marketplaces, such as Craigslist. These sites often offer tickets at face value or below for events that are sold out or highly in demand, but these offers may turn out to be scams, according to Ohio AG Mike DeWine.

The best way to prevent being a victim of ticket scams is to know the warning signs:

If the value seems too good to be true; if you have to pay for your tickets with a wire transfer or prepaid debit card; or if the seller claims to need to get rid of the tickets quickly.

There are ways to know for sure if you are being scammed for events tickets. One only has to be vigilant and do some simple research and ask a few questions.

If you are unfamiliar with your ticket seller, give a quick Internet search for credibility. If the seller has burned other people, they have likely taken to message boards to complain.

Ask to see the front and back of the ticket to make sure they exist and are authentic.

Ohioans can report suspicious Craigslist ads to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office directly from Craigslist at https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams. They also can report potential scams by calling the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at 800-282-0515 or visiting www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.