{"id":51757,"date":"2024-07-22T04:15:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T08:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=51757"},"modified":"2024-07-22T09:28:15","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T13:28:15","slug":"olympics-paris-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/olympics-paris-scam\/51757\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer scams in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

For athletes, the Olympics are the pinnacle of a lifetime\u2019s work. Many train for decades to one day perform under their nation\u2019s flag and sing its anthem far from home. For scammers, it\u2019s much simpler: the Olympics are just another opportunity to cash in on unsuspecting individuals.<\/p>\n

Today we tell you how scammers have prepared for the Paris Olympics, how they plan to steal money and personal data from sports fans, and what you need to know to follow your favorite athletes safely<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Olympic-sized data plan<\/h2>\n

The Paris Olympics kick off on July 26, and French media predict<\/a> a temporary population explosion with 15.3 million visitors. Naturally, tourists from other countries always want to stay connected, and\u2026 who comes to their \u201caid\u201d? Scammers, of course, armed with a too-good-to-be-true offer \u2014 48GB of supposedly free internet, regardless of your carrier.<\/p>\n

\"48GB<\/a>

48GB of free cheese<\/p><\/div>\n

Let\u2019s do the math: a standard mobile plan with 40GB of internet and unlimited calls in France costs around \u20ac11 (roughly $12USD). Given the number of expected tourists, the cost of providing free internet to all would exceed \u20ac168 million (approximately $184 million USD). No telecom company is giving away that much data allowance \u2014 after all, many of these visitors will never return to France.<\/p>\n

But who\u2019s got the time to think about that when the offer is so tempting, and the Parisian atmosphere is so intoxicating? Alas, after registering and filling out all the forms, the tourist won\u2019t get a single free megabyte, and they may only realize this too late when their phone account runs out of money. At the same time, they\u2019ll have given the scammers their phone number, personal and banking details, and confirmation that they\u2019ll be far from home, watching the Olympics in Paris \u2014 and therefore probably won\u2019t be closely monitoring their banking transactions.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget your ticket\u2026 and scarf!<\/h2>\n

What are the first things Olympic spectators want? Tickets to the Games, of course. Just in time for the Paris Olympics, scammers have built a network of fake ticket-sales websites. Archery? You bet! Soccer? Naturally. Badminton? Don\u2019t even ask! They\u2019ve got it all covered! To appear legitimate, the scammers have even added pop-ups requesting consent to collect personal data and use web tracking, complete with links to their own \u201cprivacy policies\u201d \u2014 so the unsuspecting victim also agrees to sharing their data with the scammers!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

This fraudulent site \u201cselling\u201d tickets to Olympic events even asks for permission to collect personal data, and has its own privacy policy<\/p><\/div>\n

The platform offers not only to buy tickets, but also to sell them \u2014 just in case you decide to watch rhythmic gymnastics instead of soccer. This way, the scammers can extend their reach to those who\u2019ve bought tickets in advance but changed their plans.<\/p>\n

But at least you can safely<\/a>\u00a0buy Olympic merch, right? Nope, another trap awaits there too: for fans of cheap merch, scammers have a special gift \u2014 phishing websites. Keychains, commemorative coins, magnets, and scarves \u2014 scammers offer it all, and at great prices.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/a>

Fake store website saying you can return any item you don\u2019t like within 90 days \u2014 you just need to receive it first; good luck with that!<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course, no actual merch \u2014 neither official nor even counterfeit \u2014 is ever shipped. Buyers are left with nothing but empty wallets and compromised data.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let scammers win the gold<\/h2>\n

The best way to protect yourself is a combination: Kaspersky Premium<\/a>\u00a0will protect you from phishing links and other online threats, while your own attentiveness, awareness of common scams<\/a>, and knowledge of how to avoid them will tackle the rest.<\/p>\n