The world’s biggest sporting event hasn’t started yet. The world’s biggest scam opportunity already has.
Every four years, the FIFA World Cup delivers moments that stop the planet.
A last-minute winner.
A giant-killing upset.
A packed stadium erupting in joy.
Strangers hugging strangers.
Families creating memories that will be retold around dinner tables for decades.
For millions of football supporters, attending a World Cup isn’t a holiday.
It’s a pilgrimage.
It’s the trip people promise themselves they’ll take one day.
The adventure that sits stubbornly on a bucket list for years until life, luck and finances finally align.
For the travel industry, that dream translates into aircraft seats, hotel bookings, hospitality packages, sightseeing tours, airport transfers and billions of dollars flowing through destinations fortunate enough to host the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.
For cybercriminals, it translates into something else entirely.
Targets.
And according to new research from FortiGuard Labs, they have already arrived in force.
Long before the opening whistle.
Long before the first stadium gates open.
Long before the first supporter orders an overpriced beer while convincing themselves it is all part of the experience.
Football’s biggest tournament has attracted an army of digital pickpockets
The research reveals that more than 13,000 FIFA World Cup-themed domains were registered between January and May this year.
Let that sink in.
Thirteen thousand.
Nearly nine per cent have already been identified as suspicious or potentially malicious.
That’s not a handful of opportunists trying their luck.
That’s organised preparation.
That’s infrastructure.
That’s a criminal economy building itself around one of the largest tourism movements on Earth.
Travel professionals understand demand.
They understand what happens when a destination suddenly becomes the hottest ticket in town.
Prices rise.
Inventory tightens.
Competition intensifies.
Apparently, cybercriminals understand tourism economics just as well.
The difference is their business model is considerably less customer-friendly.
The scammers understand something every travel advisor already knows
People don’t buy travel products.
They buy emotions.
Nobody gets excited about an airline seat.
Nobody frames a hotel booking confirmation.
Nobody tells their grandchildren about an airport transfer.
People buy anticipation.
They buy possibility.
They buy the story they hope to tell when they come home.
The FIFA World Cup magnifies those emotions, unlike almost any other event on the planet.
A supporter searching for tickets isn’t simply making a purchase.
They’re chasing a dream.
Cybercriminals know this.
They know a fan desperately hunting for quarter-final tickets at midnight isn’t thinking like a cybersecurity specialist.
They’re thinking like somebody who fears missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And that urgency is where the danger begins.
Fake tickets. Fake holidays. Real losses.
FortiGuard Labs identified numerous counterfeit ticketing websites carefully designed to mimic official FIFA channels.
Many appear convincing.
Some appear professional.
Several would fool people who consider themselves reasonably internet savvy.
That’s what makes them dangerous.
The days of poorly designed scam websites littered with spelling mistakes are disappearing.
Today’s fraudsters invest in presentation.
Some of the operations uncovered by researchers bundled fake tickets with counterfeit flights and accommodation.
It’s almost admirable in a deeply disturbing sort of way.
A complete holiday package.
Without the holiday.
Travel advisors have spent decades helping travellers avoid disappointment.
Now they increasingly find themselves helping travellers avoid deception.
And the distinction is becoming harder to spot.
Social media has become the scammers’ favourite grandstand
Researchers identified more than 1,700 suspected FIFA-related impersonation accounts and channels across social media and messaging platforms.
Nearly 90 per cent appeared on Facebook and Instagram.
That should concern every tourism marketer.
The same platforms destinations use to inspire travel are being exploited by criminals to exploit trust.
A fake ticket seller inside a football fan group.
A livestream link was posted moments before kick-off.
An account carrying convincing branding.
A promotion that appears too good to ignore.
Each relies on one thing.
Believability.
Unfortunately, social media has become wonderful at making things appear believable.
The old scammer stood outside the stadium
The modern scammer buys Google advertising.
That’s perhaps the most striking lesson from the report.
The methods have changed dramatically.
The motive hasn’t changed at all.
Thirty years ago, a counterfeit ticket seller stood outside a stadium gate hoping to fool somebody rushing.
Today, they sit behind a laptop halfway around the world.
The technology is different.
The scam is identical.
Exploit excitement.
Exploit urgency.
Exploit trust.
Then move on.
The digital world hasn’t created new criminals.
It has simply given old criminals better tools.
Even jobseekers are being targeted
Every World Cup creates employment opportunities.
Hotels recruit additional staff.
Hospitality businesses expand rosters.
Media organisations seek support personnel.
Tourism operators increase capacity.
Where legitimate opportunities emerge, scammers inevitably follow.
FortiGuard Labs uncovered campaigns involving fake FIFA-related recruitment offers designed to steal credentials from hopeful applicants.
Victims believed they were applying for jobs connected to the tournament.
Instead, they were handing personal information directly to cybercriminals.
It’s a cruel twist.
People looking for opportunities become opportunities themselves.
The travel industry cannot afford complacency
Travel businesses are no strangers to disruption.
The industry has survived recessions.
Volcanic eruptions.
Pandemics.
Airline collapses.
Terrorism.
Natural disasters.
Yet cybercrime continues to evolve into one of tourism’s most persistent challenges.
Because unlike weather events or geopolitical crises, cyber threats don’t wait for a season.
They operate continuously.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Professionally.
The World Cup simply gives them a bigger audience.
Travel advisors, tour operators, airlines and hospitality providers should already be monitoring for brand impersonation, fraudulent websites and phishing attempts linked to the tournament.
Because if scammers are investing this heavily before kick-off, few expect them to disappear once the competition begins.
The bigger story isn’t technology
It’s trust.
Travel has always been an industry built on trust.
A traveller trusts an airline they’ll meet for the first time at check-in.
They trust a hotel they’ve only seen in photographs.
They trust a tour operator they’ve never met.
Not only that, but they trust a destination they’ve never visited.
Without trust, tourism doesn’t function.
That’s why this story matters.
Not because malware exists.
Not because phishing exists.
Not because fake websites exist.
Those things have existed for years.
This story matters because it attacks the very foundation upon which travel depends.
Trust.
And trust, once lost, can take years to rebuild.
The final whistle
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will deliver unforgettable moments.
It will fill aircraft.
Pack hotels.
Create fortunes.
Generate headlines.
Inspire journeys.
And remind us why travel and sport remain two of humanity’s great unifiers.
But as excitement builds, travellers should remember that not everyone chasing the World Cup is doing so out of love for football.
Some are chasing something far less noble.
Your money.
Your data.
Your trust.
The World Cup is ultimately about dreams.
The challenge for travellers is making sure those dreams end inside a stadium, not inside a scammer’s bank account.
Because the only thing that should be stolen during a football match is possession of the ball.
Travellers should purchase tickets only through official FIFA channels and reputable travel providers. Travel advisors are encouraged to educate clients about phishing attacks, fake ticket offers, counterfeit travel packages and suspicious social media promotions.
For travel businesses, preparation should begin now.
Because while the football season starts in June, the cybercriminals have already kicked off.
By: Sandra Jones – © 2026.
Read Time: 8 Minutes.
About the Author.
Sandra has spent a working lifetime quietly rescuing journeys, one itinerary, one anxious caller, one impossible connection at a time. Years in Australia’s finest travel agencies taught her the art of calm, how to find a flight in a fog of cancellations, how to soothe a traveller when luggage wanders, how to turn nine frantic days in Europe into something resembling sense. Qualified, seasoned, endlessly patient, she learned that good travel advice is part logistics, part listening.
But the storyteller in her was always waiting its turn. Writing offered a new map, a way to turn experience into reflection, detail into delight. At Global Travel Media, Sandra now writes the truths only insiders know: the mishaps, the laughter, the grace found between gates and goodbyes. She reminds us that travel, for all its fuss, is still one of life’s better ideas.
