The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are just around the corner. As some 10,500 athletes prepare for the competition of their lives, with billions of viewers watching around the world, scammers are stepping up their game. From fake ticket websites to sophisticated deepfake scams, fraudsters want to cash in on the Olympic hype. In this article, we highlight the top scams to look out for and offer helpful tips on how to avoid them and stay safe.
Websites with fake entries
Beware of websites selling tickets to the Olympics, many of these sites are fraudulent and sell fake tickets, so if you are not careful, any purchase made on them is very likely to result in financial losses and great disappointment. However, the difficult thing is that these fake websites often look real and legitimate.
Unfortunately, no one is safe from these scams, they are becoming more and more sophisticated, even the family of British Olympic swimmer Matt Richards were recently scammed out of over $3,000 by a fake ticket website, and only discovered it was a scam when they noticed spelling and grammatical errors in the website’s follow-up communications.
Be very careful with these sites and know that the only way to buy tickets for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is through the official ticketing site, https://tickets.paris2024.org/. If you are unsure whether a website is legitimate, enter the URL into the Trend Micro Site Safety Center to find out for sure. However, here are some additional tips:
- Check if the site is secure. Look for the padlock symbol in your browser. While its presence is no guarantee that the site is secure, if it is missing, it is a clear sign that it is not.
- Research the Internet to gather information that will allow you to confirm the legitimacy of the portal.
o Unexpected pop-ups or ads, or anything that might look strange or suspicious, such as an outdated logo.
o Spelling and grammatical errors, common on fake websites.
o There are no reviews or contact information (phone number, address, email), meaning no one shows their face.
o Incredible offers that are too good to be true, if it is too good it is false or fraudulent.
Fake Olympics streaming websites
There are plenty of ways to watch legitimate Olympic coverage, both on television and through streaming services. However, that’s not going to stop scammers from creating their own fake Olympic streaming websites to try to trick viewers into sharing their personal details.
These fake streaming websites often have rather suspicious domain names, such as watcholympicslivehd24(.)com and olympic.watchliveandfree(.)xyz. Their goal, like fake social media giveaways, is to collect personal information. The fake streaming website example below even asks the user to enter their credit card details, claiming that they will not be charged:
Of course, this will almost certainly not be the case: scammers will likely use the information to make fraudulent online purchases and potentially distribute or sell this valuable information on the dark web.
To ensure you don’t inadvertently share your personal and/or financial information with scammers, make sure you only watch Olympic coverage through known and trusted television networks and streaming services. Do your research and verify first. And never give out your personal or banking details.
Deepfake Scams
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to create highly realistic but fake videos of people, making them appear to be saying or doing things they never actually did. Recently, deepfake technology has become alarmingly sophisticated, allowing scammers to convincingly impersonate others on video calls. Earlier this year, a Hong Kong finance employee was tricked into transferring over $25 million. Using deepfake technology, the scammers impersonated the organization’s CFO and other employees during a video conference. Despite initial suspicions, the employee was convinced by the realistic appearance and voices of his supposed colleagues, leading him to make the large transfer.
With social media now more popular than ever, there are concerns that scammers could exploit deepfake technology to mimic athletes and Olympic officials, potentially scamming fans into sending money or cryptocurrency – typical social engineering scams taken to the extreme, and the real-time application of this technology to video calls increases its deceptive potential, as demonstrated by the unfortunate incident involving the Hong Kong financial worker.
Here are some general tips for spotting deepfakes:
- Check for unnatural movements: Look for awkward, strange, or jerky movements that seem out of place
- Be careful with your eyes and mouth: Deepfakes often have problems with realistic blinking and natural mouth movements
- Check for audio problems: Audio and video mismatch may be a sign of a deepfake
- Examine the lighting: Inconsistencies in lighting and shadows may indicate manipulation
- Trust your instinct: If something seems weird or too good to be true, it might be a deepfake, again… if something is too good to be true, it is not.
Fake gifts on social media
To celebrate the Olympics, legitimate companies are launching giveaways on social media, offering prizes such as tickets to live events or high-end TVs to enhance the viewing experience at home. However, alongside these genuine promotions, scammers are also running their own fraudulent contests. These deceptive contests don’t have winners – instead, the goal is to collect personal information from unsuspecting participants. Below is a screenshot of one such scam from the Tokyo Olympics.
Fake giveaway on social media. Source
Look out for the registration link in the message – it will almost always take you to a website with a form asking you to enter your personal details. Once you submit your information, it will be forwarded directly to the scammers, who could use it to launch phishing attacks against you or distribute or sell it on the dark web.
Before entering a social media giveaway, and especially if you are suspicious, do not click on any links. Always do your research first and verify its legitimacy by visiting the company’s official social media account or website. Remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is a scam.
Dangerous public Wi-Fi
If you’re lucky enough to be heading to Paris to watch the Games live, it’s important to be aware of the risks of using public Wi-Fi. Many public Wi-Fi networks lack strong security protections, making them prime targets for scammers. If you connect to a public Wi-Fi network that’s been compromised, scammers could intercept your personal and financial information and even install malware on your device to steal details like your login credentials. This would leave you vulnerable to becoming a victim of fraud and identity theft.
When it comes to using public Wi-Fi safely, the best thing you can do is use a VPN. A VPN will create an encrypted tunnel between your device and the Wi-Fi network, ensuring that no one can intercept the information transmitted. In the absence of a VPN, if you must use a public Wi-Fi network, follow these tips:
- Check the network you are connecting to before joining
- Do not access financial accounts or make transactions
- Only visit secure sites with HTTPS and a padlock symbol
- Turn off Wi-Fi when not in use to prevent unauthorized access.
- Disable automatic connection to Wi-Fi networks (device network settings)
- Keep your devices and security software up to date
- Use strong passwords and 2FA to protect your personal information and accounts
Stay safe and enjoy the Games
As we eagerly await the spectacle of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, remember not to let your guard down against scams. Whether you’re travelling to Paris or watching from home, stay alert and safe, and enjoy the Games to the fullest. Here’s to a safe and unforgettable Olympic Games!
