Pirates are taking advantage of the World Cup to multiply the fraudulent tools likely to trap Internet users. Here is the top 4 of the most practiced scams around the competition.
Like all major and unifying events, the current Football World Cup brings in its wake a string of scams to trap Internet users. For example, even before the start of the competition which began on November 20, researchers from the security company Group-IB Digital Risk Protection had detected more than 16,000 fraudulent domain names and dozens of fake accounts that appeared on the social networkssocial networks. advertisements and applicationsapplications were even created by scammers.
Similarly, official fan sites have been compromised with nearly a hundred accounts hacked through phishing or via malware like RedLine and ErbiumErbium. World Cup or not, the idea of cybercriminals always remains the same: seek to extractargentargent victims or at least steal their personal identifiers to carry out other operations and possibly access their bank accounts.
Here are the top 4 scams around this 2022 World Cup
Fake merchant sites for the sale of official jerseys
The creation of fake merchant websites powered by the purchase of advertising space on social networks in order to generate traffic. The website offers consumers official jerseys of national teams participating in Qatar 2022, and users are asked to enter their bank card details or transfer money via the payment systems displayed on the fake site in order to buy a jersey. Then, the bank account is relieved and the famous jersey never arrives since it does not exist. Worse still, the scammers were able to get their hands on valid banking credentials.
When it’s too good, it’s suspicious. Tickets to major matches at good prices, that’s what scammers offer. Convenience merchant sites were therefore set up in September with keywords revolving around this competition. Sites whose traffic is driven by the creation of many fake accounts on social networks. Obviously, there are no banknotes at the end of the payment, but a punctured bank account and bank details that escape all control. There is also the variant of the mix between social networks and messagingmessaging. This is particularly the case with attractive publications, but only serving as a pretext for Internet users to then arrive at direct discussions with scammers in WhatsAppWhatsApp or Facebook MessengerMessenger. This allows them to obtain personal information and money transfers fairly quickly to sell counterfeit tickets. In addition, job offer sites around the competition were also unmasked.
There are about 40 fake apps in Google Play StoreStore on this theme of the World Cup. The brand FIFA World Cup 2022 is used to confuse users and trick them into downloading the bogus app. Again, these applications are used to buy counterfeit notes and for this, as always, the victim leaves a lot of personal and banking information. On the volumevolume of interested parties, this scam works, even if the Qatari government asks foreigners to use the Hayya application to check the validity of a ticket and display it to enter the stadium.
Scams outside the stadiums
Hackers are smart and like spotlightsspotlights are focused on Qatar, it is also an opportunity to play with the biggest brands put forward by the competition. In all, 16,000 fake surveys or competitions to win gifts in the context of the World Cup were generated by hackers. These questionnaires were allegedly from existing local brands, the name of which has been impersonated. In the end, no gift, but a theft of personal data.
