World Cup scams: fake FIFA sites stealing bank details and money | OneFootball

Criminals are spoofing FIFA to fleece fans, using convincing fake websites to steal bank details and money as World Cup excitement grows.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, cybersecurity firm Check Point Research counted 9,741 April registrations carrying terms like FIFA or World Cup, over five times the Qatar 2022 peak.

One bogus shop, fifaofficialstore[.]shop, uses FIFA branding and discounts of up to 80% to harvest card data. Another, fifa2026guess[.]com, runs a vote-and-win lure demanding small deposits and personal details.

Volumes have roughly quadrupled since February, a pattern that points to organised, AI-assisted campaigns preparing large-scale fraud infrastructure ahead of surges in ticket demand and fan interest.

A web of fraudulent betting platforms, largely in Chinese, is targeting supporters outside the host nations, indicating a global threat rather than one limited to North America.

The spike is not confined to fans. In sectors exposed to tournament traffic, including media, hospitality, travel and transport, year-on-year cyberattacks have risen between 30% and 48% across the three organisers.

Many domains remain unclassified, yet one in 41 new World Cup-related registrations in recent weeks has already been flagged as suspicious or malicious.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo