Beware Of Fake World Cup Streaming Sites
FIFA World Cup 26′ Winner Trophy. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
Soccer fans are advised to be wary in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup, with a rash of fake websites and counterfeit online stores.
According to PreCrime Labs, the threat research team at BforeAI, criminals have been busily creating new domains to offer everything from fake merchandise to non-existent free streaming of the games.
“The observations from this event are a harbinger of the malicious domain activity sponsors, businesses, and fans should expect during next year’s 2026 World Cup tournament, also being hosted in the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico,” said the researchers.
“Major tournaments – the 2025 Club World Cup; the 2026 Men’s World Cup – predictably trigger spikes in fraud infrastructure: fake ticketing, counterfeit merchandise,
unlawful streaming, betting lures, and generic ‘fan guide’ pages used as lead-gen or phishing launchpads.”
In all, the team found 56 World Cup or team merchandising sites selling scarves, jerseys, and the like, with
55 claiming to offer streaming and live access to watch the matches.
More than 30 related to slot and casino betting, two to ticketing for live matches and 23 targeting the host cities or regions – Dallas, Atlanta, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Texas. Two were using terms like “login” or “register”, and three were spoofing Visa or hotels
All in all, nearly 300 domains were registered in the few days between August 8 and August 12.
“In one example, we observed a domain with a page title that says, ‘FIFA world cup schedule’ to lure users searching for official match information, but when they visit the site, they are met with a betting page,” said the researchers.
“This is a common trend observed around mega sporting
events – Olympics, World Cup, ICC tournaments – where adversaries abuse trending keywords to maximize search visibility and social media spread.”
There’s prominent use of celebrity pictures and ‘official partner’ keywords – all unauthorized.
Another webpage promotes an “EV Map for World Cup 2026”, claiming to help fans traveling to World Cup matches find hotels and restaurants with electric vehicle chargers and encouraging businesses to apply to be featured.
And this campaign has been hoovering up personally identifiable information through a B2B phishing scheme, including sensitive business information such as financial details, owner identity and contact information. Some are even charging a fee to unsuspecting businesses seeking advertising opportunities to be featured in a non-existent directory.
Many of the websites carry prominent buttons encouraging users to “Buy Tickets” – a classic lure for financial fraud – and incorporating fake branding elements, especially those of payment partner VISA, flags and FIFA logo lookalikes.
An analysis of fraud cases by the U.K.’s Lloyds bank found that the number of people being scammed when buying football tickets rose by around a third during the 2023/24 season, compared to the previous year.
“Passions run high when supporting your favorite football team, and missing out on the big match after falling victim to a ticket scam can be devastating,” said the company’s fraud prevention director, Liz Ziegler.
“There are some simple tactics every fan needs to know. Always stick to official channels as your first line of defense, and avoid deals which look too good to be true. Most scams kick off on social media, where impostors create fake profiles to sell non-existent tickets.”