With all the energy and anticipation surrounding Penn State's upcoming football season, it's easy to see why some avid fans in search of tickets are falling victim to scam artists.

But it's still not easy to accept.

Students have been scammed out of their money in exchange for tickets they never receive. A significant number have reported experiences with scammers on Web sites like www.lionconnection.com.

Unfortunately, Web sites with positive intentions are being used as vehicles for scam artists to exploit the desire of many Penn State football fans to find tickets --- sometimes at ridiculously high costs.

And for a problem that involves so many different parties, the only persons to blame are the scam artists themselves.

However, that doesn't mean students and other fans looking for tickets shouldn't be aware of how to avoid being scammed by these dishonest and exploitative people.

Scam me once, shame on you. Scam me twice, shame on me.

Or so the saying kind of goes.

Students should trust their gut instinct when conducting business through Web sites like www.lionconnection.com. And it might be worth trying other sites, like Ebay, whose payment method PayPal, gives users more insurance and less of a chance of being scammed.

At the same time, Penn State fans should be aware of the laws about scalping and be weary of someone willing to charge astronomical amounts of money for relatively inexpensive tickets without any regard for the law.

Sure it might be lucrative to sell football tickets for $800, but that doesn't make it right.

That's why it's best to conduct this type of business only with people you trust. Otherwise you're taking a really big risk with an awful lot of money.

All Penn State football fans need to remember the positive energy of the game and stop scamming and scalping.