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World Cup warning: scammers are cashing in on desperate football fans hunting for tickets, streams and betting tips

ended 12. June 2026

New NordVPN research has found:

One in six UK internet users encountered a football-related online scam in 2024 and 2025.

Fake match tickets are the biggest danger for fans, with 56% of those who encountered football scams coming across bogus ticket sales.

An estimated 3.4 million UK internet users have lost money to football-related scams, with victims most commonly losing between £51 and £150, new NordVPN research has found.

Social media is the main route in, with 70% of those who encountered football scams seeing them on social platforms and Facebook the biggest named platform.

One in three UK internet users has watched football through illegal streaming channels, potentially exposing fans to risky sites, pop-ups and scam offers.

Scammers are catching people when their guard is down, with victims who lost money to football, entertainment or travel scams most likely to say they were frustrated or stressed when they received the scam offer.

  • What is your reaction to the research?
  • Is the World Cup a target for scammers? Why?
  • What advice do you have for people targeted?

Responses today.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
Football fraud works because it attacks fans at exactly the wrong moment- when demand is high, emotions are running hot and common sense is being drowned out by FOMO. The World Cup is a scammer’s dream fixture. Tickets are scarce, travel is expensive, streaming demand is huge and fans are primed to click quickly. Fake tickets, dodgy streams and social media ‘deals’ all exploit the same weakness- urgency. The golden rule is boring but vital. Buy only through official clubs, tournament sites or trusted resale platforms, never through random social posts or direct bank transfers. Be wary of sellers pushing pressure, secrecy or unusually cheap prices. Anyone who has paid should contact their bank immediately, report it to Action Fraud, preserve screenshots, and change passwords if they clicked through to a suspect site
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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
Fans already know in their gut that when demand outstrips supply, the gap gets filled by people who want your money more than they want your team to win. Fake ticket sites, dodgy streams, algorithmically timed betting "tips"? None of this is sophisticated. It works because frustration and stress are predictable states for anyone trying to watch football legally in 2026 and their guard is lowered.

Seventy percent of football scams land through social media because these platforms are built to surface content people care deeply about. Facebook, Instagram, amd X remain structurally indifferent to whether what spreads is real. They profit with increased engagement and increased ad clicks. Rarher depressingly, the platform enforcement is reactive at best, and theatrical at worst.

For World Cup season, the threat surface expands: more fans, more urgency, more tired but keen people who don't usually navigate grey-market sites suddenly on a fool's errand looking for a legit stream at 11pm.