Fake Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games tickets flooding the internet
When on the hunt for tickets to the summer games, be very careful – crooks will almost certainly try to scam you.
Image by Shutterstock.
When on the hunt for tickets to the summer games, be very careful – crooks will almost certainly try to scam you.
As an experiment, Proofpoint researchers took to Google to search for Paris 2024 tickets. Among the many results, they discovered a link to a fraudulent website. Displayed as a sponsored ad on Google, it led unsuspecting users to paris24tickets[.]com, an alleged marketplace for sports and other events.
Only there was no such marketplace – fraudsters had set up the website to lure sports fans worldwide and defraud them. Crooks probably attempted to collect users’ payment and personal information.
While the website was eventually taken down, sports fans won’t be able to catch a breath, especially with the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games just around the corner.
French law enforcement has identified over 300 fraudulent Olympic ticketing websites, and only 51 were taken down. The French Gendarmerie Nationale warned that, besides fraudulent websites, users should remain vigilant on social media networks too, with Facebook, Telegram, and Instagram likely swarming with crooks.
There’s more when it comes to the Olympics. Experts expect Russia to be one of the most active players in the cyber realm, exploiting the event for espionage and disruption, given that France is an active supporter of Ukraine. Everyone – from athletes, high-profile figures, and tourists traveling to watch the games – is a potential victim.
Threat actors are already exploiting the huge demand in their propaganda campaigns. Pro-Russian Telegram channels have been promoting a faux documentary, “Olympics Has Fallen,” which resembles the 2013 action hit “Olympus Has Fallen.” The star in this “documentary” is a deep-faked Tom Cruise, who is shown condemning the International Olympic Committee.