World Cup betting scams: fake Pix receipts, cloned betting sites, and bogus promotions

Digital security specialists are warning about a rise in fraud during the FIFA World Cup, with criminals using the tournament to push financial scams. For high-risk PSPs and merchants, the practical issue is simple: when betting, pooled entries, and payment-sharing spike, so do fake payment proofs and cloned checkout flows.

1. Among the most common schemes are fake Pix receipts, fraudulent bolões (group betting pools), cloned betting sites, and promotions that do not exist. The warning was reported by Valor Investe.
2. The rise of AI makes the fraud environment harder to read. A survey by Reclame Aqui, published in November 2025 ahead of Black Friday, found that 63% of respondents said they cannot identify scams produced with this technology, which can generate ads, messages, websites, and videos that look increasingly convincing.
3. Jardel Torres, commercial director at cybersecurity firm Ostec, said criminals know that during the World Cup people buy more, place bets, join betting pools, and share game-related content, which makes scams easier to execute.
4. Pix is one of the main fraud vectors during the period. Rafaela Helbing, president of fraud-prevention company Data Rudder, said criminals often use falsified Pix receipts to simulate transfers or set up structures involving third-party accounts to make tracing funds harder. Her advice is to verify the legitimacy of the operation and check references on whoever is promoting it before making any payment.
5. Specialists listed eight preventive measures: enable two-factor authentication on apps and financial services; monitor bank activity regularly; never rely only on the Pix receipt sent by the payer; avoid clicking links received via messages or social media; confirm the organizer’s identity and reliability before joining a pool or sending money; use only official sites to watch matches or place bets; keep strong, separate passwords for each account; and distrust promotions promising easy gains or prizes far above market levels.

The warning also extends to the workplace. Specialists recommend that employees avoid opening pirated streams, promotions, or betting pools on work computers, since those clicks can create openings for phishing, credential theft, and data leakage.