It’s snow joke – sporting occasions are an enormous draw for cybercriminals. Ensure you’re not on the dropping aspect by following these finest practices.
02 Feb 2026
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5 min. learn
Cybercriminals have all the time been drawn to main sporting occasions. A mixture of worldwide model consciousness and an intensive digital footprint make them a well-liked possibility for opportunistic scammers. And occasions don’t get a lot larger or higher recognized than the Olympics.
Cybercriminals have been trying to capitalize on the Olympics for years – for instance, pretend ticketing websites proliferated means again throughout the Beijing 2008 Summer season Olympics. Since then, even some state-aligned menace actors have gotten concerned, disrupting the Pyeongchang 2018 video games through the use of wiper malware that shut down Wi-Fi hotspots and TV feeds, and crippled the back-end servers of the video games’ official app. Some hacktivists are by no means distant both, spying an ideal alternative to attract consideration to their trigger.
However because the world prepares for Milano-Cortina 2026, what are the most typical threats that you must look out for? And how are you going to keep protected?
What to be careful for
There are numerous threats that sports activities followers ought to look out for within the days main as much as the occasion, and the 16 days of the video games. They embody:
Phishing makes an attempt
These are unsolicited emails, texts or social media messages impersonating the official organizers of the video games, sponsors or different third events. Sometimes, they may attempt to trick you into coming into your private and monetary data, or clicking on malicious hyperlinks/opening attachments which lead to silent malware set up. Examples embody:
- Free streaming hyperlinks that result in malware supply or credential theft
- Particular prize attracts and ‘final probability gives’ akin to tickets to the video games
- Alerts about cancelled tickets or cost points
Pretend Olympics websites
Some e-commerce websites purporting to promote official tickets, journey and lodging might appear like the true deal. However they simply need your cash and/or card particulars. Your buy doesn’t exist. In some instances, scammers may also put pretend listings on real websites and marketplaces, like Airbnb, eBay and Fb Market.
Free and unlawful streaming websites
Some websites supply sports activities followers free entry to video content material from the video games. However these websites may be a hotbed of malware hidden in hyperlinks, plugins and recordsdata. They’re additionally filled with video overlay adverts that aren’t usually only a minor inconvenience. As an alternative, many are usually malicious and once you click on on them, you’ll be redirected to a malicious web site or unwittingly obtain malware in your gadget.
Pretend apps
Cellular apps masquerading as official Winter Olympics apps may very well include infostealing malware or different threats. Such malicious apps are primarily discovered on numerous third-party app shops.
search engine marketing poisoning
Scammers pay for sponsored adverts or use search engine marketing strategies to place their malicious web sites on the prime of search outcomes. They might set off drive-by-downloads or attempt to receive your private data.
Assist scams
For those who complain on social media about a problem together with your flight/lodge/tickets, fraudsters might bounce in posing as ‘official assist.’ They don’t actually wish to assist, they simply need your private, monetary and reserving data.
Pretend employment scams
Look out for bogus alternatives to hitch the Olympics as a volunteer or paid employee. These are normally designed to both harvest your private data or trick you into paying an upfront ‘charge’ to course of your particulars.
AI-powered scams
Fraudsters are more and more utilizing AI-powered instruments and companies to extend their possibilities of success. They’ll generate phishing web sites and messages at scale in flawless native languages. And so they may also create sensible audio and video designed to affect your resolution making. Be careful for deepfake movies of well-known athletes looking for to solicit donations for pretend charities or ‘coaching funds.’
QR code phishing
For those who’re on the occasion, look out for quishing makes an attempt. QR codes posted at occasions may very well result in phishing websites and malware downloads. It’s a popular tactic that blends bodily and digital threats to steal your cost particulars or private data. It’s notably efficient tactic as a result of it usually doesn’t arouse the identical stage of suspicion amongst individuals as, say, phishing URLs. Cellular units are additionally usually much less properly protected than laptops and desktops, so there’s extra probability of success.
Public Wi-Fi
For those who’re out and about on the occasion, beware of pretend and lookalike hotspots designed to seize your private and monetary data.
Staying protected from Winter Olympics scams
To remain protected on-line, keep on with the official Winter Olympics websites and don’t have interaction with unsolicited messages and too-goo-to-be-true offers. Extra particularly:
- Solely purchase tickets from https://tickets.milanocortina2026.org/ or https://hospitality.milanocortina2026.org/. The occasion organizers haven’t approved resale on any third-party ticketing websites.
- Persist with the official website, store.olympics.com for merchandise.
- Keep away from pirated streaming companies and solely go to websites hosted by the official broadcasters, together with NBCUniversal (US), BBC (UK), Warner Bros Discovery (Europe).
- By no means belief too-good-to-be-true offers in unsolicited messages.
- Keep away from clicking on hyperlinks or opening attachments in unsolicited messages, even when they seem like from respectable Winter Olympics organizers/sponsors.
- Scrutinize listings for crimson flags, even when they’re on respectable websites. Take a look at evaluations, all the time use the official in-app messaging service and prioritize sellers with “verified” badges or comparable.
- For those who’re going to the occasion, obtain the official Olympics app for schedules, maps, and digital tickets.
- Keep away from public Wi-Fi the place doable, or use a VPN should you can. If it’s a must to use a hotspot, don’t log in to high-value accounts, akin to your e-mail or on-line banking.
- Keep away from scanning QR codes on the occasion, or ones that flip up in emails.
- Set up anti-malware in your gadget from a good vendor to mitigate the chance of quishing, smishing and email-based phishing.
- Do not forget that the Olympic video games organizers by no means ask for cash to volunteer or work there. Official volunteering websites might be discovered at https://team26.milanocortina2026.org/ and paid roles might be discovered at https://milanocortina2026.intervieweb.it/en/profession.
The XXV Winter Olympic Video games in Milano-Cortina is ready to be a deal with for sports activities followers all over the world. However digital scammers will even be paying shut consideration. Benefit from the enjoyable, and keep protected.
