The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games began on Friday , July 23 , after a year of delay due to the pandemic. The celebration of the event will be quite atypical, carrying out a multitude of tests on the players to reduce contagion as much as possible. However, there are other dangers related to the Olympics , and that lie in wait for the most unsuspecting users.
Scammers often take advantage of popular events to promote their malicious content, such as fake links to newly released movies. Now, Karspersky has analyzed the fake websites related to the Olympics to see what they are trying to steal and how they are doing it.
Live broadcasts
The Olympic Games bring together billions of spectators around the world, being one of the most watched events because practically all countries have athletes to follow. Seeing them online is very convenient, and in Spain both RTVE and Eurosport have the rights to broadcast them, where we can also see them in 4K on Movistar. However, some websites promise better access, and in exchange for a record, they claim to allow viewing. Unfortunately, there are attackers in that registry who keep the personal data that we enter, as well as trying to sneak malware onto computers.
Fake tickets
This year’s Olympics are going to have to be watched without spectators. However, there are those who are trying to sneak fake tickets to gain access. There are even websites that claim to offer refunds for tickets already purchased, even though none have been sold.
Websites posing as official
There are also fake websites that pose as the official Olympic Games, but are actually phishing . One of them, for example, masquerades as the International Olympic Committee page, collecting MS Services credentials from users.
Gifts
Big summer events, such as the European Championship, the World Cup or the Olympic Games, usually generate purchase peaks on televisions to be able to enjoy the content in better quality. Some fake websites promise to offer gifts to users if they participate, such as televisions, where the winner would only have to pay the shipping costs. To do this, they ask for billing information, but as is obvious, the television never arrives.
Fake cryptocurrency
The latest scam discovered by Kaspersky researchers has to do with an alleged cryptocurrency created to support Olympic athletes, called the Olympic Games Official Token . The web and the currency are, of course, fake.
Therefore, it is important to be careful with the web pages that we visit, and check the URLs to see if they are real or not. Many of them may also have spelling mistakes, or ask for personal information that they should not ask for.