With the football World Cup taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, now might feel like the best time to buy or gift a team jersey - but shoppers should be wary of would-be bargains on unknown websites.
US authorities are warning that numerous scam websites are trying to sell counterfeit merchandise on websites that look convincingly real.
"Threat actors create a deceptive version of a legitimate website (www.fifa.com) with the goal of tricking users into believing they're interacting with an official brand," the FBI said in a statement in late May.
Fake websites like fifa-online[.]com, fifa-com[.]com and
fifastore.us[.]com have been spotted trying to steal information from buyers or trick them into buying counterfeit or non-existent merchandise.
"Spoofed websites may mimic the legitimate URL by using a minor misspelling, such as fiffa[.]com, or alternative top-level domains, such as .org rather than .com," the authority said.
According to an analysis by cybersecurity platform CTM360, some 4,500 new World-Cup themed domains have been observed in the past five months, with at least 1,000 of them confirmed to be malicious or fraudulent.
"Fake ticketing platforms, deceptive streaming services, fraudulent betting and gambling schemes and misleading promotional campaigns designed to target unsuspecting fans" are the main focus, the cybersecurity researchers say.
Cheap usually means dodgy
Since fake websites and "typo squatting" spoofs can be hard to identify, anyone buying football merchandise online should be generally wary of suspiciously cheap offers on unfamiliar shop pages.
Searching for jerseys online in a search engine or on social media quickly leads to disreputable online shops luring customers with low prices. These can include:
- Fake shops that deliver nothing at all
- Shops that ship from abroad and deliver inferior counterfeit goods
- Poor quality products, possibly even containing harmful substances.
For buyers in the European Union, for example, ordering goods from a no-name seller outside this area carries considerable risks, according to consumer protection centre experts in Germany.
Poor quality, no warranty, no returns
The jerseys could be of poor quality and contain harmful substances, and customs problems are also possible. Warranty rights, returns or refunds are also difficult or impossible to enforce with many of these sellers.
The manufacturer's product information and the legal notice on the shop's website can provide an important indication of whether basic standards — such as freedom from harmful substances and EU compliance — are met.
Fake shops may only arouse your suspicion with impossibly low prices and can be otherwise barely recognisable as spoofs, even on closer inspection.
The professional design, extensive information, legal notice, terms and conditions and contact details — all forged — initially give no cause for doubt.
With enough online research, it is possible to track down where the details have been falsified — for example in the legal notice.
It's faster and simpler, however, to do a web search for reviews of the platform and use a website checking service like ScamAdviser, where you enter the URL and are given advice on how legitimate a website is based on various factors.
