FIFA World Cup 2022 Hackers’ Scam in Full Swing

Highlights

• The FIFA World Cup is currently underway in Qatar.
• Threat actors are selling fake Hayya cards.
• Several Telegram channels were found selling Hayya cards for prices ranging from $50-$150.

FIFA 2022 Besmirched in Qatar

For soccer lovers, FIFA World Cup is no less than a festival event that they treat like a national holiday and cancel all their official and unofficial appointments just so as to sit in front of the television whenever the match is scheduled for the entire duration of the event.

The 2022 FIFA Cup is being hosted by Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022 and this will be the 22^nd FIFA Cup overall, while the Middle-Eastern nation will be hosting such an event for the first time.

This event is one that all FIFA fans are enjoying to the fullest extent all over the world because it happens once every four years, which is why they don’t want to think about anything else for the duration of the world cup.

As the game is underway in Qatar, there have been many news reports of hackers trying to besmirch the occasion by selling Hayya cards, which is a permit document of sorts, to fans that are willing to pay anything to get one.

For the unversed, everyone needs to have a Hayya card that has to be presented along with the original ticket to enter the stadium and watch the match.

It is a mandatory card that every person attending the FIFA World Cup must possess but there were many Telegram channels and WhatsApp groups that were found selling Hayya cards in the price range of $50 to $150 where buyers had to present ID proof like passport, while Bitcoin was the only mode of payment that was accepted.

Threat actors are said to be involved in this process where they are intentionally sharing hacking techniques to users so that they can register for a Hayya card without having a valid FIFA number, for free.

This task has become quite easy for them as crypto.com is one of the official sponsors for FIFA, while Binance Coin has entered into a partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo to promote non-fungible tokens based on Soccer related themes, while threat actors want to piggy-back on the hype so as to sell fake ‘World Cup Coin’ and ‘World Cup Token’ by promoting them as limited edition cryptocurrency.

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Conclusion

It is extremely difficult for desperate and gullible users to resist and exercise caution as the offers are quite attractive, which is why users need to restrict their purchases to mobile apps and official websites so as to prevent falling prey to such frauds.

On their part, FIFA sponsored companies have to bolster and enhance their security mechanisms so that they can teach these threat actors a lesson and stay up to date on any potential data threats of this kind.

This is why researchers have advised fans to purchase FIFA tickets and Hayya cards only from official websites and not on Telegram or any other platforms because none can give FIFA services better than the official ones.

Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2022 broadcast in India: Learn how to watch for free!