Author: Ondrej Kubovič, ESET IT Security Specialist
What you need to know before
starting your Rio Olympics ticket hunt
Olympics for fraudsters. Don’t get
fooled by criminals before Rio 2016
This year is the year of sporting fans.
Especially over the last few months, they had the opportunity to move from one big
sporting event to the next with few gaps between them. First, just before the
summer break, sports fans enjoyed a full month of football during European championship,
followed by exciting and often dramatic moments of the Tour de France, now
their collective attention is already shifting towards Rio, venue of the next
summer Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, these large sporting events
are also ripe targets for fraudsters and cybercriminals. There have already
been multiple reports of spam,
scam and phishing campaigns orchestrated to take advantage of the ecstatic
fans – one such warning being published in our
Euro 2016 post.
And the Rio 2016 games are no exception, fraudsters
are trying to lure unsuspecting victims into online ticketing deals that will
leave them with neither money nor admission to the games.
To avoid this risk, we have prepared a
short guide that will help fans obtain their tickets safely:
1.
Even before starting your
ticket hunt, make sure your operating system and software are up to date, and that
you are using a reliable security solution that protects against malicious
attacks while browsing or online shopping.
2.
If the first condition is met,
you can start looking for websites that offer tickets for the Olympic Games. We
know, there are many and it is hard to distinguish the right ones. The most
certain way is to find the authorized reseller in your country via the
official list.
3.
However, if you have already
browsed some other websites, consider checking whether or not your browser
displays the “green-lock” icon in the address bar (where the URL is). If yes,
this indicates that the certificate was assigned by a proper certification
authority and that your data is protected. If not, the safety of your data may be
at risk.
4.
Selling tickets on social
networks is forbidden by the organizers, so if you don’t want to run into
trouble at the venue, avoid purchases via this channel.
5.
If you’ve already bought your
tickets, but have changed your mind, don’t try to resell them yourself. Instead,
use the official channel created by the organizers on their official rio2016.com
page. It provides you with all the necessary instructions, and if sold, you
should be fully refunded with no additional costs.
Remember, all events that attract the
attention of masses of fans are juicy targets for cybercriminals. So don’t fall
for their tricks, protect your devices and use official and safe channels to
get your tickets. Otherwise you might end up empty handed, with stolen money or
even worse, lost credentials and sensitive information. Enjoy the Olympics
safely.