Watch for scammers, as Final Four tickets most expensive in history

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It's one of the hottest tickets to snag right now and is the most expensive Final Four ticket on record, according to TickPick. If you want to see the matchup between Duke and UNC in person in the Final Four on Saturday in New Orleans get ready to pay up. With any big event, scammers see an opportunity and they've wasted no time jumping into the final four frenzies of the showdown.

If you still need tickets, Brett Goldberg, with TickPick says, "It's always important to compare apples to apples of the pricing."

Goldberg suggests that before you buy, make sure you know the total price. TickPick shows you the overall price, with no service fee. Other websites show you the price per ticket, and you don't see the fees until you click buy.

On Ticketmaster, you'll find nosebleed seats for around $270 each with all the fees, and if you want to be right at the action just a few rows from center court, one ticket, will cost you $22,500, but when you add on the nearly $5,000 in fees, you'll shell out more than $27,000 for just one ticket.

Tickets to the Final Four are now all electronic. If someone just wants to send you a screenshot of a mobile ticket, that's a red flag. Instead, you want the ticket through mobile transfer, which means the tickets are delivered via email or link from the ticket broker.

"When you get that transfer you can feel confident that that ticket is legitimate and you don't have to worry about a paper ticket that may have been copied multiple times," Goldberg adds.

Before you buy also look to see if the ticket broker offers any guarantee with the ticket purchase.

"If there are issues, and you are stuck in the gate for some reason, you can call that marketplace and there's a chance they will get you in last minute if there is a pinch," Goldberg said.

We also found plenty of tickets on Craigslist. When you are buying from anyone on Craigslist, you just never know who you're dealing with as it could indeed be a scammer with fake tickets. If you pay with cash or through a wire transfer or cash app, just know you could lose your money.

Paying with a credit card offers you the most protection when it comes to fraud.

Once you snag your ticket, you'll need lodging in New Orleans. Many hotels in New Orleans already sold out. If you're looking for a last-minute rental, Airbnb has this warning.

"Bad actors who even go as far as to mock up fake Airbnb websites literally, they go to great lengths to try to make people think that they are on Airbnb and exploit that trust that people have with our platform," said Ben Breit of Airbnb.

He also said never to wire money to any host. Before booking, read past reviews, see and understand exactly what your rental will be, and don't be afraid to ask questions. A sure sign it could be a scam is if you're asked to book and pay outside of Airbnb.

"The golden rule is as long as you are making that booking through Airbnb and you're paying through Airbnb we're protecting your money," Breit said.

We also found hotel listings on Craigslist. With these you also need to be very careful, call the hotel first to verify if the booking is legitimate and whether it will accept a party under a different reservation name.