Soccer scams — far from the top
Unsurprisingly, soccer scams are not the most popular type of online fraud that the US population runs into while browsing online. According to the survey, only 11% of respondents have dealt with soccer scammers over the course of the last two years. However, almost a third of the respondents (28%) have reported encountering a soccer, entertainment, or travel-related online scam in 2024 and 2025.
These numbers seem relatively small compared to the instances of calls or messages from fake customer support centers or banks — the most encountered type of scam by the US respondents (44%). However, with the upcoming World Cup, cybersecurity experts predict a significant increase in soccer scams, particularly in the betting sector.
Gambling against the scam odds
Out of 11% of respondents who have encountered soccer scams in 2024 and 2025, 46% claim to have dealt with betting scams. Fake match tickets, fraudulent club memberships, and sales of fake memorabilia signed by players are also high on the list with 44%, 34%, and 32%, respectively. The numbers also suggest that some of the respondents have seen multiple soccer scams (for example, both betting scams and fake match ticket sales) while browsing the web.
The most popular scam scenarios in betting scams revolve around fraudulent betting tips (25%), promotions for bonuses that require upfront payments (25%), and fake betting offers for soccer matches (24%). Match fixing is also on the list, with 23% of betting scam targets reporting encounters of this particular type of scam.
Social media — the pitch for soccer scams
According to the survey, 74% of respondents experienced soccer scams through social media apps (46% — Facebook, 42% — TikTok, 37% — Instagram, 28% — X/Twitter). Other means included messaging apps (53%), email (41%), SMS (36%), and even pop-up ads (31%). Overall, 4% of respondents reported losing money due to soccer-related scams, with the typical loss ranging from $101 to $150.
While the number of US fans that plan to follow the 2026 World Cup is less than a third of the population (30%), it’s undeniable that the social media spotlight will be massive. Knowing that scammers mainly target social media users, it’s likely that the scam numbers (and financial losses) will rise drastically.
Are you not entertained?
While entertainment scams are more popular than soccer scams, the number of respondents who experienced them throughout the last two years is less than a fifth of the total number of participants (17%). The top three scam scenarios in this category include fake concert and event ticket sales (41%), phishing scams (35%), and fake event guarantees or refunds (35%).
Like with soccer scams, social media seems to be the most popular way for scammers to deploy entertainment scams. In total, 68% of respondents claim to have come across these scams on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X (Twitter), with 44% encountering them on email. Out of the 17% who have encountered entertainment scams, 4% claim to have lost money, with two-thirds suffering a loss between $51 and $150.
Destination: Fraud
Based on our survey, traveling-related scams account for 14% of the total number of participants in the US. Out of these, misleading travel packages (44%), phishing schemes (38%), and fake accommodation reservations (37%) appear to be more common than other travel scams. Identical to soccer and entertainment scams, social media (58%), email (54%), and messaging apps (37%) are the top three mediums scammers use to launch travel-related scams.
What’s concerning is that out of the 3% of respondents who’ve lost money to travel-related scams, almost a third (31%) have encountered this type of fraud four or more times in the last two years. As many as 55% of respondents admit to having dealt with traveling scams two or three times, while only 14% say they’ve seen them once during the 2024-2025 period. While the amounts lost range between $101 and $150, these numbers suggest that scammers are seeing a particularly successful return on “investment” in this scam category.
How to (not) see it coming
In total, 9% of respondents reported suffering financial losses due to scams related to soccer, entertainment, or travel. When asked about the circumstances of falling for these scams, 55% of those who lost money claim they were stressed at the moment they received scam offers, 53% also note frustration, while excitement finishes the top three with 29%.
Surveying further, we’ve also discovered that the majority of respondents (64%) were either vacationing (23%) or on their time off (41%) when scammers made their approach. Almost a third received scam offers while working or studying (30%). The overall results suggested that the most common context for falling victim to scammers is being frustrated or stressed during weekday evenings or during their time off.
While not exactly the blueprint for scams, we can draw a hypothesis that scammers approach targets during evenings to catch them off-guard when they are tired after a day of work or leisure. Even if the target’s on vacation, it’s plausible they might be too relaxed to keep their guard up, making them more susceptible to potential scam attempts.
Scammers also choose social media as their primary method of approach, suggesting that their target audience consists of frequent Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X (Twitter) users. With billions of active accounts and various forms of content, this medium is a perfect hunting ground that allows scammers to launch their attacks in huge volumes.
Safeguarding against online scams
Scammers are not going anywhere, which is why users have to know how to safeguard their online presence. Some of the security methods are simple and already in use by some of the respondents of the survey. Other measures may be less well-known and worth looking into. Here are the easiest ways to mitigate the risk of an online scam:
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links. More than half (63%) of survey respondents claim they avoid clicking on suspicious links. It’s a great online habit that helps steer clear of phishing sites.
- Avoid messages or calls from unknown numbers or senders. Similar to suspicious links, engaging in text messages and calls from unknown individuals can result in financial loss. While 58% of respondents claim they avoid responding to these texts and calls, this number could (and should) be significantly higher.
- Avoid deals that sound too good to be true. Almost half of the survey participants (49%) admit they avoid these types of deals. It’s always worth remembering that if something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.
- Be cautious of requests for personal information, money, and passwords. A habit for 48% of respondents, this tip is a crucial one. Legitimate businesses never ask for personal information via email, text message, or phone call. If you notice someone asking for your passwords, Social Security number (SSN), credit card information, or address, immediately treat these requests with suspicion.
- Use secure payment methods. At least 46% of survey responders use secure payment methods when making purchases online. That is one of the simplest ways to reduce the risk of dealing with scammers. Malicious actors may ask targets to do wire transfers, use unknown payment websites, or even engage in crypto transactions for untraceable (or hardly traceable) payments. If you receive such requests, treat them as a red flag.
- Use two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is one of the most effective tools against online scams. However, 56% of survey responders have yet to use it. 2FA significantly limits the risk of losing your online accounts to scammers, so be sure to enable it on all your online platforms (including social media, e-commerce, and email) and never approve surprise login requests.
- Use a password manager. Using different passwords for different online accounts is the best way to keep them secure. However, no one wants to memorize dozens of difficult letter, number, and symbol combinations. Password managers solve this problem by safely securing all your passwords in one place. Some of them come equipped with password generators, too, saving you the headache of having to think of strong passwords.
- Use a VPN. While VPN can’t protect from all scammers and online threats, it can significantly reduce your exposure to some cyber risks. A typical VPN will encrypt your online traffic and hide your IP from malicious actors, which is particularly useful when connected to public Wi-Fi networks. But if you use a premium service like NordVPN, you will additionally get features like Threat Protection Pro™, which comes with ad, tracker, malicious link, and malicious download blockers, significantly reducing the risk of falling for the majority of common phishing attacks.
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Methodology
The survey was ordered by NordVPN and conducted on February 2-10, 2026, by Syno International. Using a national representative sample among internet users, 1,000 residents of the USA, ranging from 18 to 64, were surveyed. The questions in the survey aimed to evaluate the respondents’ exposure to various types of online scams, usage of behavioral and technological protection measures, and losses due to scams experienced in 2024-2025. Researchers used quotas on age, gender, and place of residence to provide results that would be as accurate as possible.
Complete research materials for this study can be found here.
