The FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued a public service announcement warning the public about a surge in malicious spoofed websites related to the FIFA games. Cybercriminals are using these fake sites to impersonate FIFA, tricking fans into giving up personal information, credit card numbers, or buying counterfeit tickets and fake travel packages.
“The malicious domains employ typosquatting and alternative top-level domains (TLDs) to impersonate the official FIFA domain (fifa.com), deceiving users into divulging sensitive information or purchasing counterfeit tickets and hospitality packages. The sophistication of these sites is such that even experienced users may be fooled, especially as attackers leverage HTTPS certificates and cloned branding.”
Two cybersecurity research firms have identified over 1400 malicious spoofed websites. These websites include operating fake visa and travel portals, and fraudulent hospitality and ticketing sites. In addition, “the scale of credential theft is staggering, with more than 1.5 million compromised accounts and 7,300+ leaked credentials related to FIFA and its partners being traded on the dark web.”
Enjoy watching the games, but don’t let these fake domains fool or scam you. Here are some tips to avoid becoming a victim:
Access FIFA resources only via https://www.fifa.com and official subdomains. Block and monitor the IOCs listed above at the network perimeter. Educate staff and fans about the risks of fake ticketing and job sites. Monitor for phishing campaigns using World Cup themes. Coordinate with law enforcement and FIFA’s official cybersecurity partners for incident response.