Cybercriminals Exploit FIFA World Cup with Phishing, Fake Ticketing, and Credential Theft Scams
Cybersecurity firm Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs reports that cybercriminals have created thousands of malicious domains and fake websites to scam FIFA World Cup fans through phishing, fake tickets, counterfeit merchandise, and credential theft. From January to May, over 13,000 World Cup-themed domains were registered, with approximately 8.8% identified as malicious or suspicious. The research highlights threats to fans, employees, and organizations across sports, travel, hospitality, and other sectors during the high-profile global event.
Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs cybersecurity research reveals that cybercriminals have already established infrastructure to exploit FIFA World Cup fans ahead of the tournament running from June through July 19. Over 13,000 new World Cup-themed domains were registered between January and May, with roughly 8.8% identified as malicious or suspicious through pattern analysis. Threat actors have created hundreds of fake websites mimicking legitimate ticketing, streaming, betting, and hospitality services to steal credentials and financial information. The scams include phishing sites, fake ticketing with bundled counterfeit travel packages, impersonation accounts (nearly 90% on Facebook and Instagram), malicious apps, and fake job postings using credential-stealing schemes. FortiGuard Labs detected over 4,600 URLs associated with FIFA in stealer logs, along with more than 260 FIFA employee credentials and over 270,000 credentials from users and fans. The research recommends that organizations in sports, travel, hospitality, media, retail, finance, government, and critical infrastructure implement defensive measures including monitoring for lookalike domains, brand impersonation, and credential leaks.
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Cybercriminals exploit Fifa World Cup fans with scams
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