The Rio Olympics: Big Event. Bigger Stakes. Huge Online Scams

The month of August will witness some of the best performances by world class athletes in 2016 Rio Olympics. Considering the magnitude of the event, the online scammers have made best use of the platform to launch phishing attacks, lottery scams, counterfeit offers, merchandising schemes and more. As athletes prepare energetically to bring laurels for their country, these online scammers also prepare vigorously to earn some good amount of money and steal sensitive information from public.

We have been regularly updating our blogs and informing our readers on simple security steps one should take to stay safe against scammers. With Rio Olympics just around the corner, sport fans and internet users worldwide easily fall prey to these scams in lieu for free tickets, big lottery amounts, discounts, Olympic merchandises and more.

Online Lottery Scams

Globally, scammers are flooding mailboxes with bogus emails citing that recipients have won grand Rio Olympic lottery prize. It will claim that the recipient has been the only one selected amongst million names registered for this grand prize. And, all you have to do is contact them by filling few sensitive information and submit a fee in order to claim the prize.

What is exciting is the grand lottery amount. What is not exciting is that…you have never registered for this grand lottery prize.

Security Tips:

1. Before falling in love with the grand amount, always think whether you have ever registered for such lotteries. If you have not purchased or registered for an online lottery, then don’t bother to claim it.
2. Such bogus emails will always ask you to fill in your personal information. NEVER DO THAT.
3. Never disclose your bank details or pay fees in advance.
4. Official lotteries will never ask anyone to contact them by sharing sensitive information.
5. Official lotteries will never send an email and inform one personally on winning the grand amount. They always thrive on publicity and big announcements.

Next time you receive such emails….just tick on the left box of the email and click DELETE.

Phishing Schemes and Fake Websites

Scammers are experts in creating fake websites that look credible for selling fake Olympics tickets, merchandises, television sets and more. What is alarming is that it is very easy to register such domain names containing “rio” and “rio2016.” What is more alarming is that such fraudulent websites are part of a bigger and organized cybercrime gangs targeting online users and using their bank information to steal money.

Security Tips:

1. If you want to buy tickets for Rio Olympics always purchase it from their official site.
2. Most of us are not tech savvy and hence it becomes very difficult to distinguish between fake websites from the official one. It is always better to trust the official website of Rio Olympics and their authorized ticketing and merchandising partners. For more information visit here.
3. Always use your credit card for online transactions. Credit cards ensure greater protection than other payment methods in terms of fraud, guarantees and non-delivery.
4. Never transfer money to personal accounts.

If you have never heard of the website or the person contacting you for tickets, merchandises etc., do not bother to click on the link or reply to such emails.

Many of us will be enjoying Rio Olympics from our televisions, computers, tablets and smartphones. And, for those traveling to the event, remember to use the public WiFi cautiously. Most of them are not trusted and open i.e. data sent and received using them is not encrypted leaving your personal and financial information to be compromised.

And, always install a good antivirus solution to protect your desktops and mobile devices from phishing attacks and fraudulent websites.

Sources:

https://www.hackread.com

https://www.usatoday.com

https://www.cso.com.au

https://www.nbcnews.com

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk

Suhita Mazumdar