College football and NFL tickets are some of the most highly sought after items people try to get their hands on as the pigskin season comes closer and closer to beginning.  Web sites like eBay and Craigslist become flooded with people selling tickets to the big game and you have to be careful who you are buying from before you pull out your credit card to book your seat.  Remember that only the event, venue and the autorized ticket company can actually guarantee the ticket you purchase will be valid at the gate.  But for those going the peer-to-peer route, here's some other things to keep in mind...

1) Choose someone who has a history of satisfied customers.  Scammers are clever though so make sure they have a RECENT transaction to prove their account hasn't been hijacked.
2) Pay with a credit card or through Pay Pal since each offers some protection and potential reimbursement.  Never write a check or wire money to the seller or you may get unlucky and never seen your ticket or money again.
3) Most sellers will include a photo of the tickets you are purchasing so take advantage of that by looking closely for alterations and cross-check the ticket with a map of the venue's Web site