7 On Your Side: How to avoid getting scammed when buying Rangers playoff tickets

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Tickets to Thursday night's Rangers-Senators game are going as high as $4,000 for rinkside seats.

But you can find some cheap seats, even going for less than face value, on the Internet. But before you buck up - listen up - so you don't get scammed.

Ranger fans were rallying Thursday at MSG's Rangers Village, proudly displaying their playoff tickets.

"A season ticket holder was gracious to us and gave it to us last week," said lifelong fan Mark Savino.

He's lucky. Tickets are sold out to see the Blueshirts. And the secondary market is flooded with tickets, if only if you've got big bucks. That leaves fans desperate for deals.

"I paid $150 for each," said Daria Wells, who bought a birthday surprise for her boyfriend, Paul, a huge Rangers fan. 4 lower level tickets to Round 2 she spotted on Craiglist.

"He said his Grandpa was a season ticket holder and he was sick so he was selling the tickets for him," said Daria. The seller asked to meet up in Times Square.

"They look completely real, we didn't question it because they look completely authentic, we had the receipt."

It wasn't until they got home and compared the tickets to other fakes online they got suspicious.

"They print on very high quality paper for Ticketmaster and it's not clear, it's really grainy." said Daria.

We took the tickets to MSG, a box office rep took one look and gave the verdict - Counterfeit! And this is after she handed over $600 to the scam scalper.

Even more upsetting, the seller kept selling their exact tickets online. And Thursday, we found more tickets for sale on Craigslist from the same seller, for a cheap $300 a pop for section 108, basically center ice.

TicketMaster's tix in the same section are going for a grand.

We texted the seller, who insisted his seats were real. But when we asked him to meet at MSG to scan them, he said he couldn't make it.

"I think it's terrible, it's awful there are still crooks in the world and its pathetic," said Daria.

We showed fans the fakes and they couldn't spot the red flags. But even those looking for tickets said they would not buy from strangers.

The big takeaway here before buying tickets on the secondary market: Use a reputable company.

Ticketmaster is the NHL's official ticket seller. Be very wary when buying from people you don't know. And if you buy from CraigsList, insist they meet you at the box office to have the tickets scanned and authenticated before paying.

And a tip from the Rangers box office? Never pay in cash, ever. Use Paypal or a credit card. With cash,there's no recourse if you get scammed.