Buying a ticket through a ticket exchange GroupMe? Piper Pressly might be a name that’s familiar to you. Selling a variety of tickets for the remaining home games, the deal might seem too good to be true. In this case, it is.
Pressly, a sophomore elementary education major, has woken up numerous times to her fellow Clemson students questioning if she was selling her student section ticket to a football game. Each time, the answer has been no.
“About half a dozen people have asked me if I’m the actual person trying to sell them a ticket when in reality I am not,” Pressly said.  
As Clemson’s football team continues undefeated, the ticket market to watch the Tigers play has become extremely competitive, leading some people to take advantage of the situation by scamming others
Anna Clair Patterson, a freshman pre-business major, tells the story from the other end of the deal. Patterson purchased what she thought to be a student section ticket to the Oct. 22 Syracuse game, when in reality, all she bought was an empty promise.
“Someone texted me selling a hill ticket for sale. I had a genuine conversation with them and even negotiated a price so I Venmoed them and I never heard from them again,” Patterson said. “I’m not sure how they get in the Group Me chats, but I’m down $70.”  
Pressly does not know the scammer who stole her identity, but blames the extensive student ticket market for the issue. Currently, Pressly has not contacted the Clemson University Police Department, hoping the problem will resolve itself.
In a typical scam, an individual would contact Clemson students via a social media platform under the guise of an actual Clemson student attempting to sell student section tickets that, in reality, are nonexistent.
Clemson Athletics is aware of the ongoing issue and is taking steps to remedy the problem.
“Clemson Athletics continues to work closely with Student Government to provide as much flexibility and opportunity as possible for our students,” Jeff Kallin, spokesperson for Clemson Athletics, said. “Fans and students are encouraged to be diligent when purchasing tickets through unofficial sources.”
The Clemson Athletics ticket office and Ticketmaster are the only verified sources for tickets to Clemson events, according to Kallin.
Patterson expressed her intense aggression towards the student ticket market in general.
“I am very angry and it caused a lot of stress that day waiting for the ticket and not getting responses after having a seemingly real conversation with this individual,” said Patterson to The Tiger.
Clemson is one of the few universities to still supply their students with free admission to home games; although tickets are not guaranteed, the tickets students do receive through the lottery are free.
Since Clemson made the transition from physical paper tickets to completely mobile, it has become easier for students to transfer tickets amongst each other, typically at a cost.
There are numerous group chats at the GroupMe capacity of 5,000 students with the sole purpose of buying and selling student tickets. Students that were allotted tickets for free are charging each other anywhere from nothing to upwards of $200.
Not only is it Clemson University campus policy that only purchased tickets may be resold, it is also South Carolina law. “A person who offers for resale or resells a ticket for admission to an event must request or receive no more than one dollar above the price charged by the original ticket seller,” reads SC Code 16-17-710.
Because student tickets are forbidden from being sold for profit, students use third-party payment sites such as Venmo or Cash App to pay each other, then transfer the ticket through the Ticketmaster app for what looks like no cost.
The University is also trying to make people aware of whether the source they are purchasing tickets from is reputable, according to a statement by Joe Galbraith, University spokesperson.