Beware of Olympics-themed phishing emails and scams

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is coming. How excited we are to watch the wonderful games! We have listed the broadcast and free live stream in the previous blog and guide you guys on how to watch the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. You can click here to read the article. 

However, as the Olympic Games have a large scale and gain huge and wide attention from all over the world, cybercriminals seize the opportunity to steal people's privacy and finance information to make profits through Olympics-themed phishing emails and scams. This article lists the kinds of Olympics-themed scams and gives the solution to avoid being cheated.

The kinds of Olympics-themed scams

Scammers use various methods to trick out of victims' trust. Here are some typical kinds of Olympics-themed scams:

1. Phishing email: Scammers will pretend to be the Olympic officials or other famous companies, especially the Olympic sponsors to send you an email, telling you that you have won $1,500. Before getting the money, you need to click the link and fill in your personal information. Actually, that is a phishing link and they get your sensitive information such as your address, and bank account to sell for profits.
2. Fake websites: Some fake websites have appeared on Google. They are very realistic and mostly like the true official website. These websites pretend to be the website of live stream of Olympic events or the Olympic official website. Cybercriminals implant malware and network viruses in your devices after you sign up on these fake websites.
3. Scalper Tickets: If you are a sports enthusiast but unfortunately you didn't buy a ticket for the 2024 Olympics, you will find another way to get one. Scalper may sell some tickets. They are usually more expensive than the official ticket price, but for some, they deserve the price. when you decide to buy tickets from a scalper, confirm that they are not scammers.
4. Hotel booking scams: It is time for people who have bought Olympic tickets to book hotels in Paris. Scammers use the discount to appeal to travelers to book the accommodation. And they take advantage of urgent-sounding discounts. We'd better book hotels on a trustworthy website.
5. Dangerous public Wi-Fi: If you have been to Paris, you could find that International Roaming is expensive. In order to save your data, using Wi-Fi is a good choice. But be careful, hackers will hack into public Wi-Fi to steal your privacy.

How to stay safe online during the Olympic Games?

Although scammers have developed so many methods to cheat us, we can still identify them and prevent being cheated through learning cybersecurity knowledge. Here are some tips for you to avoid falling victim to Olympics-themed scams.

1. Don't click on unknown and suspicious links. 
2. Buy tickets and book hotels on the official website.
3. Stay alert for so-called winning email or text messages.
4. Use official organizer resources.
5. Set up strong and multiple passwords for your accounts.
6. Install a VPN.

Why install a VPN that can protect our privacy?

VPNs create a private network tunnel for users to visit the internet. Connecting a VPN to visit the internet can mask your real IP address, preventing your personal information from being leaked. 

How to choose a reliable VPN to prevent being scammed during the Olympic Games?

It is very important for us to choose a suitable and trustable VPN. Here are some features that a reliable VPN has.

1. No-logs policy: Why phishing emails take you as the target. the possible reason is that your browsing history and your personal information were sold to third parties. VPN with a no-logs policy won't collect your private data and record your browsing history.
2. Safer public Wi-Fi connection: With a trustable VPN, you can connect with public Wi-Fi without worries.
3. Auto kill switch: This feature can prevent your online activities from being exposed when the VPN server suddenly disconnects from your devices. It will kill the internet connection until the connection of the VPN server recovers.

Conclusion

After reading this article, we have understood the Olympics-themed scams more. If you are looking for a professional VPN, VPN Proxy Master completely meets your needs. With fully encrypted servers and AES 256-bit encryption, VPN Proxy Master is a trustable VPN for you to stay safe online. It has the whole features that have been mentioned above. Click here to get the fastest and the best VPN! Hope you guys enjoy the 2024 Olympic Games with VPN Proxy Master.