Texans tickets trick sets woman back hundreds

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A warning for those purchasing tickets online: Experts say scammers are becoming more sophisticated in stealing your money. And the worst part about it, once the money's gone, it's untraceable.

"It was October 7, they were advertising Texans tickets," ticket scam victim Lauren Naples said.

When Naples found an ad for tickets on Craigslist, she contacted the seller and received a message from them asking to secure the deal through eBay.

"I thought that was just normal stuff. And from there I gave them that information, I received an email that looked to be like an email that you'd receive from eBay," she said.

It instructed Naples to complete the transaction with a Green Dot MoneyPak. It's a reloadable prepaid card purchased a places like Walmart or CVS, and can be used to make payments to companies and individuals.

"You put $500 on this card. But it has to be cash," Naples said.

Naples says that should have been a red flag right there. However, she faxed the Green Dot information to the seller, as instructed by the email confirmation.

"In there in small print, is says money will be held until you receive the tickets," she said.

Naples says the seller promised she'd have the tickets within 24 hours.

"Tuesday of this week came around and I was like wow, it's been 5 days. Did I just get scammed?" she said.

Naples checked the balance of her Green Dot MoneyPak online, and discovered her money was gone. Turns out, the eBay confirmation she received was a spoof email. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to tell who she sent the money to.

"The cards aren't registered to any particular person. So they're transferred between cards. So there's no way to actually know who the owner is of the card it was transferred to," said Monica Russo with the Houston BBB.

Russo says these types of scams are the new form of wire transfers.

"Whenever you're instructed by a stranger to go out and buy a Green Dot MoneyPak, that in itself should be a red flag," she said.

Naples filed a dispute with Green Dot, and notified law enforcement. She's hoping something can be done to help her retrieve her funds. We reached out to Green Dot who tells us they're in the process of phasing out their PIN-based MoneyPak reload methods, in hopes of eliminating the ability for scammers to use the MoneyPak service for wrongdoing.