CLEVELAND — The 2024 NFL football season is upon us, and so are the scammers trying to take advantage of fans.
A 3News viewer shared a message with us that she received from an account claiming to be run by Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett (using his nickname "Flash").
THE CLAIM
The messages included a request for $1,500 in exchange for what that the person claimed was access to training camp.
SOURCES
To VERIFY whether this is a scam, we checked with:
- ClevelandBrowns.com
- The Browns ticket office
- A team spokesperson
EXPLANATION
If you visit the Browns website, you'll see a ticket link in the top right corner. When you click on it, you see the options don't include training camp access.
You also see the phone number for the ticket office, which is (440) 891-5050.
I called that number to see if I could buy any kind of ticket for training camp, and the representative told me that training camp tickets are free. The representative said that when they're available, you can get them on Ticketmaster, but they're already all spoken for at this time.
For good measure, we also talked with a team spokesperson who told me, "A Cleveland Browns player will never ask a fan for money to access training camp. Those tickets are free."
ANSWER
So we can VERIFY that a message claiming to be from Myles Garrett and offering to sell a $1,500 ticket to training camp is a scam.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Be cautious any time someone claiming to be a celebrity reaches out to you, especially if they're asking for money. There are many Facebook accounts claiming to belong to Myles Garrett, so this isn't the first time this has happened, and it wont be the last.
If you look closely at the one we’ve been talking about here, you can see they've even spelled his last name wrong with only one "R." The real Myles Garrett spells his name with two "Rs."
If you come across something that you're unsure about being true or false, you can send it to us to VERIFY by emailing us at verify@wkyc.com, or texting us at (216) 344-3300.
