Cybercriminals are looking for users to join sports betting sites to generate money from their registrations
“Access and win the album with more than 400 stamps” is the initial message to access a supposed promotion of the sticker album that is, in reality, a scam. (GEC)
With the start of the sale of the album of the World Cup Qatar 2022, soccer lovers are as anxious as cybercriminals, but they, in search of deceiving to anyone interested in having the complete Panini album.
The cybersecurity company Kaspersky has reported a scam spread by WhatsApp that seeks to generate income using the data of innocent people to register them on sports betting sites and dubious promotions with the excuse of winning an album for free and various figurines.
“Access and win the album with more than 400 prints” is the initial message to access the promotion of the figurine albumthat promises immediate delivery and a link for the person to access, supposedly, the website of the publisher that produces the albums.
This fake website instructs users to complete a survey about the album and the company that distributes it, in addition to displaying alerts about the small number of products available to pressure the user to complete the tasks that are requested. In the end, the person is forced by the system to share the link of the scam to their contacts in order to continue with the process.
Hacker touching a smartphone screen with binary code background
Once the spreading the message and involving other people in the deception, the victim is redirected again to various websites requesting a registration in promotions or online betting sites with affiliate schemes.
The target of cybercriminals
As explained by Fabio Assolini, director of the Research and Analysis Team for Latin America at Kaspersky, “These schemes are designed to trick the victim into signing up for different sites. In this case of the soccer figurines album, the campaign is false because its real objective is to get the person to register on suspicious raffle sites or betting sites”.
The manager also added that “the betting sites also have an affiliate scheme, making the creators of the campaign earn a commission for each registration made through the link shared”
ILLUSTRATION – Text messages sent with the intention of stealing data circulate profusely. But it is enough to eliminate them without opening them to nullify the danger. Additionally, the sender's number can be blocked. Photo: Robert Günther/dpa
The expert also reiterates to football fans the importance of being cautious with their data. “It is important for fans to be vigilant and cautious with their personal and financial information as as we get closer to the event, cybercriminals will set more traps using phishing and the social engineering”.
How to avoid being a victim of scams
So that people do not fall for scams like this, the cybersecurity company recommends to users of social networks, especially WhatsApp , follow these recommendations:
– Links received through emails, SMS or WhatsApp messages or other messaging applications, should be cause for doubt by the recipients. In any case, it is good to ask the person who sent them what they are about and what kind of pages they redirect to.
– If you click on one of these links, you have to verify the website it leads to. Both the link and the email or message that was sent must be reviewed to avoid cases of phishing.
– It must be checked if the promotions are true by visiting the official website of the company or organization, their profiles on social networks or contacting them directly through a telephone service or email.
– If the veracity of the website is in doubt, do not enter any data or complete any type of form.
