Leading Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has identified several World Cup-related crypto scam operations already in motion, warning that fraudsters do not wait for the tournament to begin before building out their infrastructure.
“Criminals always look to exploit major events and cultural moments and they don’t wait until kickoff,” Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, told Cointelegraph. “Scammers build and position their infrastructure weeks in advance, then scale it the moment public attention peaks.”
The 2026 World Cup, hosted across Canada, Mexico and the United States, opened on Thursday. FIFA expects around 6.5 million fans to attend throughout the tournament, with an estimated $40.9 billion in global GDP impact.
TRM Labs said it identified two fake ticketing websites designed to closely mimic the official World Cup ticketing portal, along with a fixed-match betting scheme. The operations are tied to four crypto addresses. In one case, approximately $1,562 was deposited into a Polygon-based address before the funds were moved through several swaps and transferred to the Tron network, complicating efforts to trace them.
The third scheme involves fraudsters contacting victims and claiming to have advance knowledge of match outcomes, demanding upfront Bitcoin payments in exchange for guaranteed betting tips. TRM Labs noted the infrastructure for a larger wave of such attacks is already in place as the tournament progresses.
“While confirmed losses so far are only around $1,700, there is a risk of additional victims from some of the existing scam infrastructure,” the company said in its report.
TRM Labs also flagged World Cup-themed memecoins, including a token called WORLDCUP listed on the LBank exchange, warning that such tokens can become vehicles for pump-and-dump schemes where early investors profit at the expense of latecomers.
Redbord noted that cryptocurrency transactions also give investigators and compliance teams opportunities to trace suspicious activity before losses spread further.
In May, the FBI warned that threat actors were spoofing FIFA-related websites to collect personal data, sell counterfeit tickets and carry out additional malicious activity. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had also issued a warning flagging fake ticketing sites, hospitality packages, merchandise offers, streaming subscriptions and sports betting deals being pushed through websites and social media accounts designed to resemble legitimate FIFA services.
Meanwhile,FIFA has also told fans that tickets purchased outside its official channels may be deemed invalid and cancelled without notice.
