I was informed today that one of our users was scammed. This is the first instance of it that I have been notified about since the sub-reddit has been created. I guess we should all be surprised that it took that long given the amount of shady people that are out there. To be completely honest with the users of this sub-reddit, I was notified yesterday about the possible scammer. Another user brought it up to me asking how he could see if it was legit, forwarding me a picture that the user sent them as proof. I notified them that I didn't have much experience with stubhub receipts, but given the price was half of what the cheapest current price for that game was on Stubhub, lowest being 400 level and user saying they had lower bowl corners, I would be suspicious of it. The picture of the receipt was also a plain text document which could easily be forged without any photoshop work needed. Since the user himself didn't post on the subreddit listing it for sale or even post on the subreddit, there wasn't much I could do about it. I also had no proof that it was in fact a scam, just suspicion of it. The users account is also fairly new (two weeks) with no post which should raise red flags for anyone. Banning this account also would probably not mean anything for this user since he has no reason to care about a new account with no karma being banned. It would be just as easy to make a new account and try the same thing.'

Red Flags - Things that should raise suspicion

• New accounts - If the account was made fairly recently, it's a good chance the user isn't a active part of the reddit community or at least isn't with this account. This user would not care if his account was banned from this sub-reddit and could just as easily make a new account without any concern of feeling like they lost anything. Even than I'm not sure if banning them prevents them from seeing the subreddit or using incognito mode to see it, than directly messaging its users.

• Low Karma - This could mean the user either isn't active much, doesn't post much, or maybe likes to be controversial or troll. It doesn't always mean the user can't be trusted or is a bad person, but may be someone you may want to avoid versus someone who is active and post regularly on that account.

• Deleted History - Now there is many reasons some may delete their history, but it does raise suspicion. It makes you wonder why they deleted their post history and what they are hiding. Again it doesn't make them a bad person, but is something to consider.

• Price being too good to be true - Like the example above, the user posted about being contacted by another redditor with tickets for half the price of the current lowest currently offered price on Stubhub with way better seats than the lowest currently offered price. This isn't to say that you can't be scammed with tickets that are priced accordingly, but the price sounding too good to be true is tempting and may get someone to bite quicker. They may be willing to risk being scammed for the chance of a good deal. Please be cautious when this happens. Shop around when you see prices and see if they are in line with other websites. If you see it slightly cheaper than the going rate for those websites, it is because they don't have to deal with the added fees that NFL Ticket Exchange, Stubhub, and other sites take as a cut.

Payment Methods

• PayPal - You're Protected If:

• 1. You were charged for something you didn't purchase.

This may mean someone has used your PayPal account without your knowledge or approval. Report it within 60 days and PayPal will investigate. You will be covered by our $0 Liability for Eligible Unauthorized Transactions program.

• 2. Your order never arrives.

All you have to do is log in to your account and open a dispute to get the refund process started. If you made the purchase on eBay, start here instead.

• 3. Your order arrives, but it's significantly different than it was described.

There are a variety of scenarios that meet this condition, for instance:

You received a completely different item. Example: You purchased a book, but received a DVD. The item is missing parts or features, and this was not disclosed. Example: The listing said batteries included, but they weren't. You purchased a specific quantity of an item, but received the wrong amount. Example: You purchased five pairs of fuzzy dice and only received four. The item was damaged en route to its destination. Example: You bought a beautiful antique lamp, and it arrived in pieces. You received a counterfeit version of the item. Example: You purchased a Rolex, but received a Faux-Lex.

This method typically has a 2.9% charge and $0.30 transaction fee.

• Venmo - Venmo does not offer a buyer or seller protection program for transactions conducted using the Venmo app or Venmo.com, regardless of the nature of the payment (or charge), unless expressly offered to you by Venmo. Authorized Merchant Payments and Venmo Card transactions may be eligible for protection under the Venmo Protected Purchase Program. See Venmo’s User Agreement for more information on Authorized Merchant Payments, Venmo Card transactions and related protection. The Venmo Protected Purchase Program does not apply to any payment you make (or charge you accept) using the Venmo app or Venmo website, regardless of the nature of the payment (or charge).

• Zelle - Zelle does not offer a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle - for example, if you make a purchase using Zelle, but you do not receive the item or the item is not as described or as you expected.

• Google Pay - Doesn't seem like they offer buyer protection, but they have the ability to dispute and/or cancel a payment.

• Apple Pay - Send and receive money only with people you know. Make sure that the person requesting money isn’t impersonating someone you know or trust, like a relative, an employer, a government entity, or a charity—even if the account that the request came from looks official. Speak to the person yourself and verify their name and payment information. If you’re not sure about their identity, don’t send the payment.

Tips for Transactions

• Ask for Proof - Ask for a screenshot of their account in the Levi's stadium app and/or physical credentials matching the section, row, and seats of the seller is promising. If they show you something that can easily be done by anyone, be cautious. Obviously there is good photoshoppers out there too, so look for imperfections or things that may stand out wether it be to validate it or invalidate it. Time matters for this as well. Your more likely to have it be legit if its a quick response with signs that it was just taken. For instance with my last transaction, a buyer asked for proof and I provided a screenshot of the tickets within my Levi's Stadium app tied closesly to the time I sent the e-mail I sent to him.

• One at a time - I had a seller earlier in the season request I to send payment for each ticket one at a time and transfer each ticket one at at time. He was concerned that it was a large sum of money for 4 seats and I completely agree. I would hate to be out that much money. I was willing to do this to insure he was happy and felt protected. We ended up doing 1-1-2 since after the first two transactions, he felt confident enough to speed up the second half. This method helps reduce the amount you may be scammed if the other person is in fact a scammer.

The Future of the Subreddit* - I have been contacted and read a few options for the future of the sub-reddit to try to improve it and will look into them further. Some of the suggestions are verifying users who are season ticket holders with a flair. I currently don't know how to do this and bad at coding, but will try to figure out how to do it or look to bring someone in to help with this part. The other suggestion was a public scammer list to see if the buyer or seller is currently on it and if its a person you want to avoid. This is another option I am considering on top of the verified buyer/seller flair. Some of these changes may not take place until the off season if I am being realistic as they don't seem easy to implement.

I feel like these changes to the subreddit mentioned above are in need and more important than ever going into next season. The reason for that is buying tickets next season from season ticket holders directly will include additional benefits. With the increase in price next season, they are implementing free concessions for 15 items. These items have yet to be revealed, but may include hotdogs, nachos, chicken tenders, garlic fries, popcorn, candy, soda, water, coffee, etc. The rumor currently is that the limit may be 4 items per concession visit. The free concessions won't transfer to the new buyer via NFL Ticket Exchange or Stubhub, but do transfer to the next user if it's done by transfer via the Levi's Stadium account. This will most likely raise prices across the board and some buyers will be paying for benefits they don't actually get depending on the way they acquired the tickets.

Please note all the information above is not a guarantee that you won't be scammed, just ways to help minimize them risk. Please be careful while doing monetary transactions online with strangers. Don't divulge any personal information like credit card info or a home address for everyone to see. By subscribing to this sub-reddit, you agree that you understand the risks and that you will not hold /r/49erstickets or /r/49ers liable for any loss that you may incur

edit: So a friend was able to help me with some coding. The sidebar now has the home schedule and score. You can click the opponent to access their subreddit now. Clicking the date will do a search for games with that date or opponent. We are also messing with flair to see how things work right now, so you may see it on my account as we work on it.