Fake streaming services popping up to steal your private info and money ahead of UCL final

Like vultures, fake streaming services have been mushrooming, ready to steal personal data and money from unsuspecting football loyalists ahead of the much-anticipated UEFA Champions League final, cyber security company Kaspersky has warned.

Kaspersky experts said that they have explored this and managed to find several types of scams devoted to the Champions League, with this weekend’s final between Spanish champions Real Madrid and English side Liverpool looming.

According to UEFA statistics, in 2020 the cumulative audience for live matches was 5.2 billion, with the final watched by 328 million fans.

Olga Svistunova, Web Content analyst at Kaspersky said, with the amount of attention surrounding the event, fraudsters will try to use it to steal valuable personal data or money.

“Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to buy a ticket and attend the final in France. For most fans, video streaming is the best available option to watch the game. Scammers understand this and use the match to create phishing platforms for streaming,” said Svistunova.

“Fans are asked to put in personal data as the first step to register for access to match streaming. After registering, they will also be asked to put in their bank details to verify their bank card.

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“Such ‘unknown’ services should be considered suspicious, especially if they promise a ‘free service’, but later, during the registration process, ask people to provide bank details and other personal information.”

Svistunova explained that such large and international events inevitably attract a variety of fraudsters, who skillfully take advantage of people’s trustfulness

“The related scams can take a number of diverse forms – from the sale of fake tickets to bogus charities. In such situations, people should be as careful as possible and not respond to offers which appear too tempting, as we know there is no such thing as a free lunch.”

To avoid scams, save money, and keep personal data private, Kaspersky experts share some simple tips:

• Check any link before clicking. Hover over it to preview the URL and look for misspellings or other irregularities. It’s also good practice to only enter a username and password over a secure connection. Look for the HTTPS prefix before the site URL, indicating the connection to the site is secure.
• Sometimes fake e-mails and websites look just like real ones. It depends on how well the criminals did their homework. In particular, the hyperlinks will, most likely, be incorrect — with spelling mistakes. However, the links can also be disguised to look like valid links and redirect you to a different page, impersonating the legitimate site.
• To protect your data and finances, it is good practice to make sure the online checkout and payment page is secure. You’ll know it if the web page’s URL begins with HTTPS instead of the usual HTTP; an icon of a lock will also typically appear beside the URL and the address bar in some browsers will be green. If you don’t see these features, do not proceed.
• Use a trusted security solution that can help you check the security of the URL that you’re visiting and also provides the ability to open any site in a protected container to prevent theft of sensitive data, including financial details.