Football fans and computer users were warned yesterday not to be fooled by unsolicited emails, purporting to come from FIFA or the organising committees for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, that suggest recipients have won cash prizes in a lottery draw.
The official-looking emails are part of a phishing scam, designed to persuade recipients to hand over their personal details – including bank account information – in order to claim the prizes.
FIFA, football’s governing body, advised that the lotteries seem to be operated by companies from South Africa, Spain and the UK, and that it has passed on details to the appropriate authorities in those countries.
It warned the public to be extremely wary of such emails, and urged people not to respond to them.
The current phishing alert is not the first online scam to target the 2006 World Cup. In May, virus writers hid mass-mailing worm Sober-N in emails, supposedly from FIFA, that told recipients they had won a ticket to the World Cup.
Those readers who opened the email attachment infected their PCs with the worm.
