1 How does the scam work?
You want to watch the local high school’s football game, or your niece’s travel softball team is playing in a tournament out of state. You search on social media to find a link where the game might be streamed, and sure enough, a fan has put in a link where you can go to watch for free! It’s almost time for the game to start, so you eagerly click the link. The next screen asks you to sign up for the streaming service, so you enter your name and email and then you get asked for a credit card number and potentially more sensitive information.
2 Where are the links posted?
These scammers infiltrate social media with links to fake streams. The posts often will tag the schools which are involved in order to make the post appear legitimate. The scammers hope the would-be viewer inputs their information and pays to watch the event. The consumer doesn’t get to watch the game because the scammer has not set up a stream. Instead, whatever data they entered may be compromised.
3 What are some ways to spot a fake profile posting a scam link?
On Twitter especially, take notice of account names and photos, which often seem to be random, and look at their follower and following numbers. Low follower counts indicate the account likely was just started. Look at the content of…
