As the NFL Draft in Detroit draws in crowds, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is shining light on the darker side events of this magnitude can attract. Nessel has issued a stern warning to football fans and visitors alike, cautioning against scammers and human traffickers seeking to exploit the event, as reported by CBS Detroit. "We're just warning people to be careful," she stated, emphasizing the importance of vigilance.

With an army of investigators primed to detect foul play, the Attorney General's office is not taking any chances. From fake parking tickets to phantom valet services, criminals are diverse in their tactics to defraud innocent visitors. Besieged with scams such as fraudulent QR codes and counterfeit event tickets, Nessel instructed: do your homework. Reports obtained by clickondetroit highlighted that privately-owned parking lots could also be a trap where unwary drivers might find their vehicles ticketed, towed, or worse, stolen.

Human trafficking, an insidious crime that often spikes during such high-profile events, was at the forefront of Nessel's concerns. Victims may display signs of physical abuse, and having no identification or means to make payments on their own are further red flags. According to a warning by Nessel to clickondetroit "Those can be people who have bruises, cuts, or other kinds of injuries. Maybe they look a little malnourished. Perhaps they're surrounded by people; they're not really doing the talking for themselves. They don't have their own identification, credit cards, or any kind of payments that they can make on their own, just to be concerned and to report it," She urged the public to be aware of these signs and report suspicions promptly.

Scammers are especially inventive during such events, even targeting out-of-towners with fake citations. Nessel encouraged using credit cards for traffic citations, which makes it easier to fight fraudulent charges. "We've seen instances where people will say - 'We provide valet service - so just hand us your car keys and we'll see you in a few hours,' and you are never going to see that person or your vehicle again," Nessel told FOX 2 Detroit, highlighting the pervasiveness of the issue. She also warned against "smishing" scams via questionable text messages and links that may lead to malware or virus infection on one's device.

For those looking to enjoy the NFL Draft worry-free, Nessel reminded that the public events are free through registration via the NFL OnePass app. With a broad coalition of federal and local law enforcement agencies at the ready, the Attorney General's office seeks to ensure that the only memories visitors leave with are of the gridiron triumphs, and not personal losses to criminal endeavors.