It’s a rare time — that’s why scammers are taking advantage

Winnipeg

It’s an incredible feeling, one we seldom get to feel. Rising to our feet, celebrating together with the rest of our country as we feel connected to something bigger than ourselves in our red outfits and painted faces. The World Cup allows us to stand shoulder to shoulder with strangers, knowing they’re friends. It helps us celebrate our similarities and shared victories rather than focusing on our divisions. And it instils in us a certain pride and inspiration that is hard to find elsewhere.

It’s such a specific and wonderful feeling that it’s become catnip for scammers. They are drawn to the feeling too — but for a very different reason. They want to take advantage of our high to slip something past us without us noticing. And they’ve been out in full force since the World Cup festivities started.

The most obvious type is through ticket selling. Scammers post fake tickets on social media with any type of sob story as to why they can’t go or are selling, only for their victim to receive fake or no tickets at all. With the World Cup on home soil, this is one to stay aware of. If you are heading to Toronto, Ont., or Vancouver, B.C., for a game, be sure to purchase your ticket through the official FIFA 2026 website or a verified ticket sales merchant, like Ticketmaster.

If you are travelling to a game, be sure to book through trusted and reputable partners. You can spy those pretending to be big brands by their URLs. Scammers will create fake websites, impersonating travel booking sites by changing a single letter in the URL, hoping you won’t notice. They may also create a site with a what appears to be a seemingly harmless extension, like expedia.booknow.com but the “booknow” is not a real part of an Expedia URL. It’s how scammers use reputable names to trick you into booking on their site, where they will now have your credit card number and personal information.

Even if you plan on staying home and cheering on the red and white from the comfort of your living room, you need to stay vigilant. Counterfeit merchandise is everywhere, with scammers looking to make a quick buck off false advertising a cotton t-shirt as a game-worn jersey. They can pull photos from anywhere online and make it seem as though they are a legitimate seller. But the buyer may not get anything, or they might get an item that is much less valuable than the one for which they paid. In these cases, little recourse is available. The Better Business Bureau recommends paying with a credit card as they do offer more protections generally than debit or electronic transfers. But taking your time to research the seller on third party sites, like bbb.org, can be the difference between losing your money and patience to fully enjoying a World Cup win.

Scam victims report a range of emotions, from shame to guilt to fear. These emotions linger and can cause a drastic change in mental health. At a time when Canadians are able to feel an often lost sense of connection and pride, take the extra steps to avoid missing out on these wonderful moments.