Jan 9, 2009 10:48 am US/Eastern
Counterfeit Tickets Devastate BCS Football Fans
MIAMI GARDENS (CBS4) ―
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Dozens of fans got turned away from the BCS championship game at Dolphin stadium because they unknowingly bought counterfeit tickets.
CBS
While Tim Tebow led the Gators to a 24-14 BCS victory and Florida celebrated its second national title in three seasons, there were dozens of fans who never got the chance to see it.
At Dolphin Stadium on Thursday evening, fans' tickets were scanned at the gates and those that were valid – almost all of the 78,000-plus who attended - were led in. But those who weren't were shocked to learn they were duped into buying counterfeit tickets.
One Gator fan told CBS4 Reporter Jorge Estevez he purchased nearly $1,200 in fake tickets.
Major Patrick Roberts with the state's division of Alcohol and Tobacco said " There's a lot of people that came to this game without tickets, so the scalpers and these bootleg individuals are taking advantage of these people."
At least seven people were arrested, and some money got returned to innocent fans. But not all.
Rhonda Williams, an Oklahoma fan, said "We looked at the tickets, they were not blurry or anything, but they were counterfeit when we got up to the gate."
They lost $350.
One woman said falling prey, "We love Florida, and love to come, but I don't know if we'll come back again."
And for Rebecca Stovall, another Oklahoma fan, it was a harsh dose of reality. She said, "It's devastating, because I haven't missed a game in 10 years."
It would have been an experience for any fan to have seen a demonstration of excellence from the top two teams in the nation, instead of being intercepted at the gate by devious scam artists.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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