HOUSTON — With the Final Four headed to Houston from March 31 to April 1, Home Security Investigations Houston is warning basketball fans to beware of counterfeit NCAA merchandise and tickets.

In such high-profile sporting events like the Final Four, scammers take advantage of the increased demand to illegally sell fake merchandise and tickets to fans.

Counterfeiting not only affects large corporations, it also affects small businesses that purchase the vendor’s license at a high price to sell authentic merchandise, trademark holders who take the time and resources to establish their brands and consumers who fall for the schemes.

HSI Houston is working alongside Houston police, U.S Customs and Border Protection and the NCAA to target counterfeiters leading up to and during the Final Four.

To protect yourself from falling for theses scams, here are some tips:

• Always purchase through an authorized broker. The 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four tickets are only available through mobile ticketing.
• Only shop at authorized retail locations.
• Don’t purchase apparel with poor stitching, irregular markings and misspellings. Keep an eye out for items with no official sewn-in or printed labels identifying the license.
• Check your online bank statements. Keep records of purchases. Report any discrepancies.
• If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Between February 2022 and February 2023, HSI Houston and CBP seized nearly 200,000 counterfeit sports-related items, resulting in 75 arrests, 16 indictments and 11 convictions.