FIFA Cautions People Against Online Scams

Footballers and cyber criminals (particularly online scammers) are preparing to excel in their respective fields as the June 2010 World Cup is about to start in South Africa. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the football governing organization, has already cautioned soccer lovers to remain vigilant against different kinds of scams which may emerge prior to the tournament, which is scheduled for June 11, 2010.

The FIFA warns netizens through its official website that they should keep themselves guarded from online hoaxes and e-mail scams. These (scams) may play fraud while stating that they are a part of FIFA lottery, competition or prize draw; require users' personal information to obtain tickets, or extra fees to ensure they get tickets of which they're the so-called winners.

The governing body further informs people that the FIFA World Cup 2010 tickets offered through competitions and prize draws are given by only those companies which have a commercial alliance with FIFA, like sponsors. In fact, the FIFA has posted the names of genuine FIFA sponsors online to assist people interested in the football match.

The FIFA's alert comes after the security companies 'Trend Micro' and 'Symantec' have detected several spam mails touting malicious 419 lottery campaigns using the World Cup theme over the recent few weeks.

According to the security companies, fraudulent e-mails haven't been dispatched via botnets rather they were sent through direct spamming using IP addresses known for hosting 419 scams in Nigeria.

Additionally, scareware websites are expected to emerge. These websites will be generated through search engine poisoning and based on incidences at the World Cup. This SEO-poisoning will be executed for diverting Web-surfers searching for related news stories and video clips on those same scareware portals. These and other malware assaults will unfold with the immediate start of the tournament, said the security companies.

Finally, the anticipation of massively rising online assaults at the time of an extravagant sports event isn't new, say the companies. Previous experiences indicate that cyber criminals have similarly attacked Web-surfers during prominent games like the Beijing Olympics, the Winter Olympics, the Indian Premier League and the Commonwealth sporting event.

Related article: FBI’s ICCC Annual Report Discusses Fraudulent and Non-Fraudulent Complaints

» SPAMfighter News - 6/9/2010