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Ahead of Raiders home opener, cybersecurity firm urges caution when looking for tickets, gear

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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Excitement is building for the Las Vegas Raiders' home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Allegiant Stadium.

You might be looking for last-minute tickets or gear for the game. As you hunt for bargains, a cybersecurity expert wants you to be on the lookout for scams.

Yoav Keren, the founder of cybersecurity firm BrandShield, says he's seen a flood of fake websites, brand infringements, and suspicious social media posts looking to dupe Raiders fans.

"Scammers are out there because they succeed. These scams work. They're able to mislead people either by fake or unreal tickets for the different games or to buy counterfeited merchandise," Keren said.

To avoid falling victim, he says you should steer clear of websites with spelling or grammatical errors throughout.

Keren also recommends reading reviews. If a website or company has lots of negative ones, it could be a scam. Also, if the website you're looking to purchase from does not show a padlock or lock image to the left of the URL in your browser, it's likely a scam.

"This game in Las Vegas is getting more interest, and the scammers immediately see that, and what they're creating is websites that look legitimate that offer tickets for sale or merchandise for sale, and they're scams," Keren said.

As a reminder, never click on links in suspicious emails or texts. Keren said it's especially important to be vigilant on social media, too.

"These scams will start many times on social media, so they actually put out ads or posts that promote potential sales and that's how they get, many times, the funnel of people into their website," Keren said.