Kaspersky researchers have shared an update on World Cup-related scams as the tournament final approaches.

On December 18, Argentina and France will play in the World Cup final, a huge event that will be followed by millions of fans around the world. According to FIFA, 2022 will end up being the most-watched tournament in history.

Given the amount of attention surrounding the event, scammers are trying to use it to steal valuable personal data and money. Kaspersky experts have explored the issue and found several scams devoted to the world championship.

Phishing pages disguised as ticket listings

Stadium Lusail, where the final will be hosted, is the biggest stadium in Qatar and has a capacity of the 88,966 spectators. Given the limited number of seats, scammers will use this chance to sell fake tickets. According to examples uncovered by Kaspersky reseaarchers, the cost of such tickets can be up to $4,000.

With such high prices, fans need to be extremely vigilant and pay attention to the webpage where they are going to buy tickets. The safest way is to buy tickets on the official FIFA websites to mitigate the risk of encountering scammers.

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Fake contests and bookmakers

The World Cup final always attracts the attention of gambling fans around the world. Fraudsters have wasted little time in trying to take advantage of fan excitement by creating fake sweepstakes.

The researchers found fake betting pages, where fans are asked to send an SMS with the winning team or best player. Thus, the victim’s number gets added to a database so scammers can contact the victim in the future with other schemes, or sell their data on the darknet.

“Such large international events inevitably attract a variety of scammers, who skillfully take advantage of people’s trust,” said Olga Svistunova, web content analyst at Kaspersky. “The related scams can take a number of diverse forms – from the sale of fake tickets to sports betting. In such cases, fans should be as vigilant as possible, as we know there is no such thing as a free lunch. A reliable security solution can also be a good option to help weed out fraudulent schemes and keep personal data protected.”

To avoid scams, save money and keep personal data private, Kaspersky experts share some simple tips:

• Check any link before clicking. Hover over it to preview the URL and look for misspellings or other irregularities. It’s also good practice to only enter a username and password over a secure connection. Look for the HTTPS prefix before the site URL, indicating the connection to the site is secure.
• Sometimes fake emails and websites look just like real ones. It depends on how well the criminals did their homework. In particular, the hyperlinks will, most likely, be incorrect — with spelling mistakes. However, the links can also be disguised to look like valid links and redirect you to a different page, impersonating the legitimate site.
• To protect your data and finances, it is good practice to make sure the online checkout and payment page is secure. You’ll know it is if the web page’s URL begins with HTTPS instead of the usual HTTP; an icon of a lock will also typically appear beside the URL and the address bar in some browsers will be green. If you don’t see these features, do not proceed.
• Use a trusted security solution that can help you check the security of the URL that you’re visiting and also provides the ability to open any site in a protected container to prevent theft of sensitive data, including financial details.

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