Watching the World Cup illegally, users face the risk of losing both money and data

Young people take risks to search for emotions on pirated websites

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has just issued a warning, asking fans to be careful in the face of a strong wave of online fraud.

According to data from Kaspersky, experts have discovered at least 336 domain names impersonating the official World Cup website. Taking advantage of the heat of the tournament, cybercriminals are focusing on exploiting users' need for live viewing and sports betting to steal money, property, and personal data.

In the context of millions of global audiences watching the tournament via the Internet, pirated broadcasting websites have sprung up like mushrooms. A common tactic of these websites is to label them "free streaming of the World Cup" to attract visits.

However, as soon as the user clicks the "View now" button, the system will ask to register an account. In the next step, the scammers forced viewers to pay a fee in cryptocurrency to have “lifetime access to the tournament.”

Fans not only lose money unjustly but also face the risk of having their entire registration information leaked.

In Vietnam, many young users like to watch the World Cup on pirated websites due to the interesting comments section.

Mr. Ngoc Anh, a student at a university in Hanoi, shared: "As a student, my monthly spending budget is quite tight, so spending a sum of money to register for copyrighted television service packages is something I have to consider very carefully.

But the bigger reason why my group of friends and I often go to pirated websites is because the comment atmosphere there is very emotional - which official platforms only have when we spend money to buy the service."

According to Ngoc Anh, amateur commentators on these platforms use very youthful language, catch "trends" quickly and create extremely lively interaction in online chat rooms.

Even though I know that pirated viewing is not standard and I am sometimes annoyed by network lag or betting ads, the fun and "tasteful" nature of freelance commentators still has great appeal to young people like Ngoc Anh.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Xuan Quyet (an office employee in Hanoi) stated: "I am completely qualified to pay royalties when watching the World Cup, but what makes me wonder is the difference in emotional experience. When watching on official channels, the commentary sometimes follows the beaten path, is highly safe and lacks explosiveness and innovation.

At the same time, on pirated websites, the highlight section (notable content) after each match is updated very quickly."

Recorded from the reporter, just by typing a few keywords of pirated websites such as Xoilac, CakhiaTV... on Google, users can easily come across dozens of websites using these keywords to advertise illegal soccer and betting channels.

Psychological manipulation traps surround online football fans

According to Kaspersky, the betting and score prediction segment is also "fertile ground" for cybercriminals.

This security company has recorded a case of a Spanish website asking users to provide very detailed personal information in the name of creating an account including: Full name, email address and phone number.

Providing data to these platforms puts users at high risk of having their login credentials stolen. More dangerously, if the victim has a habit of using the same password for many different services, other important accounts will also be implicated.

"Since the tournament began, scammers have increasingly focused on how fans interact with online events. Criminal activity continues to increase through multilingual phishing websites. We recommend that users only watch official broadcast channels to protect their data and finances," said Olga Altukhova, Senior Web Content Analyst at Kaspersky.

Not stopping at fake websites, cybercriminals also attack directly via email with attractive titles and motivating language.

One scenario detected by Kaspersky was an email advertising "soccer analysis and winner prediction services".

To create pressure, crooks always emphasize the urgency factor, requiring recipients to act immediately. If betting enthusiasts are not alert, they will be lured into paying large fees for a completely bogus service, leading to irreparable financial losses.

Kaspersky recommends that fans seriously take the following measures:

Check thoroughly: Always verify the website's legitimacy before entering information. Carefully review the URL format and spelling of the organization name to see if there are any errors.

Choose an official platform: Only follow the tournament through official and reputable broadcasting channels.

Use technology solutions: Install security software that can identify malicious attachments and block phishing links.

Account security: Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for personally identifiable accounts and financial apps; Proactively check bank account balance fluctuations periodically to promptly detect unusual fluctuations.