Like many Penn State students this year, Brittany Walter was out of luck for football tickets. But, after being contacted by a man selling tickets, she thought her luck was back.

After posting an ad on the Penn State classifieds Web site www.lionconnection.com, Walter (senior-sociology) said she received a phone call from a Chicago man saying he had two tickets to the Michigan game.

Walter said the man was very nice and even talked to her father.

They agreed on a price of $200 for two tickets, plus $30 in Western Union fees, Walter said. She said the man then walked her through the process of transferring money through Western Union.

"He made it seem like he was not going to get the money until I received the tickets," she said.

However, the man immediately withdrew the money she transferred, and Walter didn't get the tickets, she said.

The man (or men), who goes by several names including "Larry Glass", "Josh Miles", "Randy Stephens" and "Randi Morgan," has been scamming Penn State students into sending him money for tickets he doesn't have on www.lionconnection.com.

Ryan Magee, public relations representative for www.lionconnection.com, said the company has just recently received e-mails about the scams. Magee said there will be a new warning displayed on the Web site about the risk of buying and selling football tickets online.

"There are always going to be people out there trying to exploit it," Magee said.

Walter said the man called from a blocked phone number and claimed his sons were Penn State students studying abroad for the fall semester and weren't going to need their football tickets. She said he told her he had student tickets to the Michigan game and was willing to sell them.

Walter said she contacted Western Union, but an employee said there was nothing the company could do to help her.

Western Union spokesman Jeff Fowler said consumers need to be more aware of consumer fraud issues.

Fowler said Western Union has various tools in place to protect people who use its services, but the important thing to remember is only to send money to people you are familiar with.

"It's not an appropriate vehicle to send payment to someone you don't know," he said.

Walter is not the only Penn State student who was misled.

Zachary Smith (junior-chemical engineering) placed an ad in search of tickets and received a call from a man, also from Chicago.

Smith said he was suspicious shortly after receiving the phone call. He said the man called from a restricted line and sent him an e-mail from an untraceable address.

Smith said the man also used two different names, "Randy Stephens" and "Randi Morgan," while he was in contact with him.

Smith said he went to the Penn State ticket office to see if tickets had been sent out to those who had ordered them, but they hadn't even been printed. This caused Smith to become even more suspicious, since the man had claimed he had the tickets in his possession.

Smith said the man also said he would not be able to receive the money, $330, until Smith had confirmed he received the tickets through FedEx, Smith said. He said he called FedEx and found out they have no working relationship with Western Union.

Smith decided not to send the money. After conducting some of his own investigative work, he contacted the State College Police Department, who gave him some advice on how to keep the man talking and maybe talk him into giving more information about himself.

An officer accompanied Smith to Western Union, but Smith could not get any more information about the seller.

"I told him I was going to call FedEx [to check the tracking number], and he flipped out," Smith said.

Smith said the man hung up, and he hasn't heard from him since.

Sgt. Mark Argiro of the State College Police Department said it is very difficult to track scammers like this one.

Argiro added that students should only buy tickets from legitimate sources or from someone they know. He said if something doesn't feel right about the situation, it probably isn't.

"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred your gut instinct is correct," he said.