Relay Race To Ruin: Cybercrime in the Olympics

Cybercriminals are fond of capitalizing on big sporting events, and it doesn’t get any bigger than the Olympics. with a worldwide audience, this prestigious event is more than just a prime target for cybercriminals, it’s a huge money-making opportunity.

You can be sure, then, that these thieving digital miscreants are all racing to make you their latest victim. Not only that, they’re already out of the gate even before the opening ceremonies, each one eager to be the first to hand you a baton of threats.

The first pass was made a few days ago when we detected a fraud website advertising itself on Facebook, claiming to sell tickets to the event. Upon further analysis, it was revealed to be a phishing website, created to collect personal information from unsuspecting victims.

The second one was spotted to be targeting Japanese users. A website was found selling illegal cards that would allow users to view the Olympics for free. The website itself processes user payments in an unsafe manner, which could present certain risks to users’ financial information.

Cybercriminals have not been slacking on the email front, either, as more than 50 spammed mails have been discovered, all of them scams related to the 2012 London Olympics. One of them claims to be a notification for an Olympic Email Lottery winner, with the user supposedly winning a large sum of cash.

We’re sure that this is only a preview of things in terms of the relay race cybercriminals are running to take advantage of the Olympics. Do you have what it takes to make sure they don’t come in first? To help prepare yourself, check out our infographic: