A dangerous trick: how scammers speculate on the topic of the 2026 Football World Cup

Fraudsters may use the theme of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which began in the United States, Canada and Mexico, to deceive Internet users, experts have warned about this. The attackers are actively exploiting the emotions of the fans: sports excitement, the desire to get scarce merch and join a unique world event. For more information about what schemes to expect from scammers during the 2026 Football World Cup, what are the dangers of such tricks and how to protect yourself from them, read the Izvestia article.

What is the topic of the 2026 FIFA World Cup interesting to scammers?

Visa barriers, the inability to pay for foreign services with familiar cards and sanctions pressure make the Russian audience of the 2026 World Cup vulnerable to online fraudsters, Dmitry Zubarev, head of the Analytical Center at the Ural Center for Security Systems (UCSB), said in an interview with Izvestia.

—The attackers actively exploit emotions: sports excitement, the desire to get scarce merch and join a unique world event," says the expert.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Polina Violet

Cybercriminals traditionally become active around the world during such events: the scale of the event, huge financial flows and high emotional intensity create an ideal environment for a wide variety of fraudulent schemes, adds Fedor Chunizhekov, head of the Positive Technologies research group.

According to him, the interest of fans around the world creates a huge demand for tickets, accommodation, flights and official paraphernalia, which official channels cannot always satisfy.

In addition, the tournament is held in three countries at once (USA, Canada, Mexico), which confuses entry rules, visas, currency and local counterparties, which scammers actively use. The same factor allows criminals to easily disguise themselves as official structures of different countries and use cryptocurrencies for anonymous payments.

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How to expect schemes on the topic of the football World Cup in 2026

In 2026, the attackers began "preparing" for the football World Cup in advance: cybersecurity experts began to record an increase in the number of thematic phishing sites since the beginning of the year, says Dmitry Kiryushkin, head of Bi.zone Digital Risk Protection.

— The resources were located in domain zones of various countries of the world, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia. — The names of such sites, as a rule, contained references to the World Cup or FIFA tickets. To convince victims of the legitimacy of the resources, the scammers posted fake reviews and sections on the sites explaining why users around the world allegedly trusted their service.

Photo: Global Look Press/Maximilian Haupt

According to the expert, having fallen for a fraudulent scheme, victims could lose from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars — that's how much tickets for matches could cost. In addition, since the World Cup is already in full swing, attackers are highly likely to create phishing pages that mimic betting sites. These are resources where you can supposedly bet and win. Thinking that they are putting the amount on the official website, users transfer money to intruders.

On the eve of the 2026 World Cup, scammers also sent letters with tempting offers: they promised exclusive promotions, winnings or compensation (up to a "grant" of $500,000 for the trip), adds Anna Lazaricheva, senior spam analyst at Kaspersky Lab. To receive such a "prize", it was suggested to contact the sender. Cybersecurity experts have also identified a phishing website that mimics the interface of one of the most popular taxi aggregators in Mexico.

— On it, users were asked to enter a phone number and password from the service account, ostensibly to receive some kind of "prize," says Anna Lazaricheva. — This is how attackers collect user credentials for use in further cyber attacks.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

And Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence experts found ads on shady forums for tickets and bookings with discounts of up to 20%. Such offers can potentially lead to fake websites where hackers lure users' payment details in order to steal their money.

What schemes have you seen before on the topic of major sports tournaments?

Meanwhile, online scammers have tried to speculate on the topic of major sports tournaments before. In particular, according to Maria Sinitsyna, senior analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department at F6, cybersecurity experts had previously observed the sale of fake forecasts.

— In addition, there was an increased promotion of fake bookmakers, the sale of non—existent tickets for sports matches and the popular fraudulent scheme "Mammoth", which fraudsters used in scenarios of "buying" plane tickets and renting hotels, - says the interlocutor of Izvestia.

The attackers also offered to watch fake broadcasts and staged a fake sale of official products of sporting events, Maria Sinitsyna notes. According to Dmitry Zubarev, such fraudulent schemes are aimed primarily at the mass user — from a betting enthusiast to an ordinary fan who just wants to watch football or get a souvenir.

Photo: TASS/Artyom Geodakyan

At the same time, the danger is not limited to losing money on a fictitious bet or paying for a non-existent souvenir. In the worst case, the victim voluntarily provides the fraudsters with a complete digital profile: passport data, SNILS, INN, card data and logins from important services. This set may be enough to issue microloans in the name of the victim or compromise an account on Gosuslugi, followed by access to an electronic signature.

"In addition, an infected device can become an entry point into a home network or, if we are talking about a work laptop, into a corporate infrastructure," warns Dmitry Zubarev.

How to protect yourself from fraud schemes on the topic of the 2026 World Cup

In order to protect themselves from fraudulent schemes on the topic of the 2026 World Cup, experts interviewed by Izvestia advise following certain rules of cyber hygiene. In particular, Angara Security cybersecurity expert Nikolai Dolgov recommends buying services only on official resources: tickets on the FIFA website, broadcasts from official broadcasters and in trusted applications.

— Check the website address before paying, and verify the domain by character: clones use similar but not identical addresses, — advises the specialist. — Do not follow links from ads and search results, and do not share codes from SMS and push notifications with anyone.

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According to the expert, it is important to enable two-factor authentication on payment, ticket and government services. At the same time, do not chase after "benefits": "exclusive access", guaranteed winnings on bets and tickets at a price significantly lower than the official price are almost always a sign of fraud.

Photo: Global Look Press/Silas Stein

You must use a separate card with a limit for online purchases and not connect to payment transactions via public Wi-Fi. Finally, when attending sports competitions, you should not publish photos of tickets and FAN IDs with barcodes and personal data in the public domain.

— Remember: any "exclusive" offer that seems very profitable, involves quickly clicking on a link to pay or send a text message code, is definitely a deception, — concludes Irina Dmitrieva, an expert in the field of cybersecurity and analyst at Gazinformservice.