• The end of the year has traditionally been a hot season for cybercrime and with the World Cup happening during this period the treat surface increases.
• Cybersecurity firms are urging users to put protections in place to guard against phishing and malware.
• Cybercriminals are making use of new attack vectors including fake crypto and NFT scams.

In three days the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicks off in Qatar and while many fans are looking forward to the event, cybercriminals are preying on the hopes of football fans.

The end of the year is always a busy season for cybercriminals, but with the worldwide sporting event being thrown into the mix, it’s looking like Christmas came early this year.

In a bid to safeguard its users, Kaspersky analysed some of the most popular scams it has seen come to the fore. All of these scams leverage the football tournament in some way and it’s a good idea to take note of them in case you run into one of these scams.

“Major sports events always attract the attention of cybercriminals. With this World Cup, scammers got very creative, as we have observed a variety of fraudulent schemes employed. We see how they are trying to benefit most from the situation and exploit as many trendy topics as possible, including a growing number of NFT scams related to the World Cup,” explains Olga Svistunova, a security expert at Kaspersky.

For the FIFA World Cup 2022, the organisation decided to make tickets available exclusively through digital channels. This presented an opportunity which cybercriminals leapt on.

Experts at Kaspersky discovered a number of phishing websites that claimed to help customers purchase tickets but instead hoovered up the customer’s information. The danger here is that this information can be used to launch further attacks or sell it on to other cybercriminals.

Not content with offering tickets, cybercriminals also created fake giveaway competitions in which the winner would be sent tickets, after they pay a delivery fee. Of course there are no tickets and the delivery is never going to happen.

The ability to spin up an online store has also helped cybercriminals who are able to create ecommerce stores offering fake FIFA and team merchandise.

However, these are tried and tested attack surfaces, and Kaspersky has found a modern take on scams doing the rounds – fake crypto and NFT scams.

“A distinctive feature of the threat landscape ahead of the 2022 World Cup has been the active spread of various crypto scams, mostly exploiting the popularity of NFTs. Some offer to make a bet on a match and win cryptocurrency, others to win worldwide related NFT art. All the user needs to do is to enter crypto wallet credentials, so the ‘prize’ transfers directly. In such a scenario, scammers gain access to all savings and related wallet data,” Kaspersky said.

Cybercriminals also make use of search engine optimisation (SEO) to try to reach as many targets as possible. As Avast explains, criminals will likely look to leverage the fervour around the tournament to steal credentials or infect machines with malware. Because of this be cautious when searching for news about the World Cup as the top result could be there thanks to clever SEO abuse.

The advice from cybersecurity firms and experts is to be vigilant and make use of a reputable, multi-layered security solution with phishing protections. Don’t click on links that look too good to be true and read email addresses carefully. Often times criminals will use uppercase Is or lowercase Ls to make a website URL look legitimate so be extra cautious and look for the lock icon to make sure a website is secure.

It’s easy to get swept up in World Cup fever, just try to make sure that your digital life is secure because ne’er-do-wells are always looking for flaws to exploit.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]