Matildas fans are being urged to keep a look-out for scammers trying to take advantage of their excitement over Wednesday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final.
Scammers are targeting fans with fake links to live-streams of matches and fake tickets for sale.
Social media users have reported fraudulent links being posted online to platforms such as Facebook.
Watch every Matildas FIFA Women’s World Cup™ match live and free on 7plus >> or stream all matches on Optus Sport >>
The Matildas v England game is streaming live and for free on Seven and 7Plus.
The fraudulent links are used to steal funds from excited fans and is a relatively new scam, National Anti-Scam Centre Scamwatch revealed.
“Would-be spectators are prompted to click a link and enter their credit cards details to subscribe to the live-streaming service,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
“In most cases, scammers steal the credit card details and fail to deliver the content signed up for.”
Seven’s coverage of the match on Wednesday night kicks off at 7pm AEST and will run through to full-time — whenever that might be, should the match require extra time and penalties.
Head here to watch Matildas v England live and free on 7plus.
Scammers are also targeting fans trying to get a last-minute ticket to the game.
“Fans should be very careful when last-minute ticket shopping for hugely popular events such as the World Cup finals,” Lowe said.
“We are already seeing initial reports of scam activity, particularly on Facebook, where scammers are responding to posts from people looking for tickets and using compromised accounts to sell non-existent tickets.
“There have also been reports of scammers claiming there is a problem with the payment and asking for it to be made again.”
Scammers will either post in social media groups or directly contact fans who have expressed interest in tickets.
They will also commonly share screenshots of their fraudulent tickets.
Fans should only buy tickets from an authorised ticket seller to ensure they are legitimate.
Before buying a ticket, consumers should check the authorised seller of tickets for the event, whether there is an official ticket reseller for the event and that the ticket seller who comes up first in the online search results is the authorised ticket seller and not a reseller who may have paid to be at the top of the list.
Report any scam activity to the platform it has happened on, and directly to Scamwatch.
Top tips for avoiding scams
- STOP – take your time before providing money or any personal information.
- THINK – ask yourself if the message could be a scam?
- PROTECT – act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank immediately if you notice unusual activity or if a scammer gets your money or information and report to Scamwatch.
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