As the city prepares for the pope's visit, so do scam artists looking to profit off of the pontiff's appearances. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 for You report.
Pope Francis' visit to the city is a momentous occasion that New Yorkers may be looking to take advantage of in more ways than one.
"The pope's coming to visit New York City, and there are people out there seeking to rip people off," said Jorge Montalvo, deputy secretary of state of New York.
Namely, by trying to sell tickets to see the pope when tickets are free and not for sale.
"We distribute tickets here in the archdiocese of New York, first and foremost, to our parishes. So people who will be attending the mass at Madison Square Garden or perhaps being along one of the motorcade routes will have a ticket for them given free of charge," said Joseph Zwilling of the Archdiocese of New York. "It'll be up to the pastor or the parish to determine how to distribute them, but the tickets will go to the parishes.
"We've heard from the public that there are advertisements on Craigslist and on the web advertising tickets to see the pope at that point at Yankee Stadium, and last time I checked, he's actually going to Madison Square Garden," Montalvo said.
As far as the pope's visit to Central Park, tickets are being distributed based on a lottery, which is now closed.
The State Consumer Protection Board also advises anyone purchasing anything relating to the pope's visit, whether it's merchandise or train tickets, to consider and check the source.
For more information on the pope's visit, go to popefrancisnyc.org.
To report a scam or file a consumer complaint regarding the selling of fake tickets, contact the New York State Division of Consumer Protection at (800) 697-1220 or visit dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection.