One North Texas fan is suffering a double heartbreak — his team lost to the Carolina Panthers and the jerseys he bought to support them are far from what he thought he was getting.
Wayne Bell is a Seahawks fan.
"I've got anything from socks to sweat pants," he said. "Anything that says Seahawks on it."
So when Bell was online, one ad in particular caught his eye. He said the ad was for authentic NFL jerseys.
"The prices were like $27 for a $250 jersey," he said. "I thought, 'Gosh, that's pretty cheap."
The website Bell was on said it's the official online store of the NFL. But when he received his two jerseys, Bell felt the quality on both was poor and he said one was the wrong size.
There was no customer service number to call on the website. After several emails, Bell said he got a response from the online company.
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"They didn't want to do anything, saying the jerseys are the highest quality," Bell said.
Supervisory Special Agent John McNair is not surprised. Over the years, his team with the Department of Homeland Security has confiscated tons of questionable merchandise, which he said is often used to fund criminal enterprises.
"If it's a price that seems too good to be true for the product that you're buying, there's a really good chance that it will be," he said.
McNair also said, when it comes to bogus shopping websites, look for misspellings. Another clue? Some may only accept money orders.
One NFL lawsuit listed 30 pages of websites the NFL says were "offering to sell, and/or selling Counterfeit products to united states consumers." Law enforcement said it's like a game of Whack-A-Mole. For every website shut down, others pop up.
Bell says his story should serve as a warning.
"You are only going to get what you pay for and I got what I paid for. I got a headache," he said.
We tried to contact the website where Bell bought his jerseys. You can only contact them by submitting your information via email. We tried three times and heard nothing back.
Bell is disputing his bill with his credit card.
If you think you've bought from a bogus website, you can report it online.
Bottom line when shopping online?
- Look for a website's customer service number.
- Look for misspellings or awkward grammar.
- Not taking a major credit card could be a tipoff.
- If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.
Here is the official online store of the NFL.
If you are physically looking at team merchandise, there are other clues to tell if the product is authentic. Price, again, is a big consideration. Also, look at the stitching. It's often sloppy on fakes. Tags should not be cut or say "irregular." There can also be misspellings on the actual item.
And the biggest clue — the hologram. All NFL merchandise carries it. When you move it back and forth and from side to side, you should see a different or changing picture. Fakes either don't have a sticker at all, or they will carry something shiny, but not a true hologram.
Here is more information on how to spot fakes, not just NFL merchandise.
