You used to have to go to the stadium to root on your local high school athletic team. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed that. With schools forced to restrict entry to events, they turned to online streaming of games so that people could watch from the comfort of their living rooms.
While attendance restrictions have been lifted, many schools are still streaming games, and as the temperatures cool down, you may opt for watching from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, this option has opened up another avenue for scammers to use. They aim to capture personal information, including credit card and Social Security numbers, as fans log in to watch their teams play.
Here’s how it typically works: You want to watch the local high school’s football game, or your niece’s travel softball team is playing in a tournament out of state. You search on social media to find a link where the game might be streamed, and sure enough, a fan has put in a link where you can watch for free!
It’s almost time for the game to start, so you eagerly click the link. The next screen asks you to sign up for the streaming service, so you enter your name and email… and then you get asked for a credit card number and potentially more sensitive information. Are you seeing red flags yet?
These scammers infiltrate social media with links to fake streams. The posts often will tag the schools involved to make the post appear legitimate. The scammers hope that you have shared your information, including payment to watch the event. But you likely won’t get to watch the game, because the scammer usually doesn’t have the link set up to stream. In the meantime, whatever data you entered may be compromised.
Your Better Business Bureau reminds individuals and families to do their research when looking to watch a high school sporting event online. Last year this concern became so prevalent, many state associations that oversee high school athletics issued warnings about the fake streams.
On social media especially, take notice of account names and photos, which often seem random, and look at their follower and following numbers. Low follower counts indicate the account likely was just started. Look at the content of their posts as most are nothing but tweets to stream games.
If you want to watch a specific school’s game online, check with the school to see if it has streaming options available. While many schools do offer live streaming now, there are others who do not.
The bureau offers these tips on how to stay safe online:
— Research any website before paying any money or entering any information. Check the company’s BBB Business Profile at BBB.org.
— Pay by credit card whenever possible if you need to challenge the payment. Credit cards offer extra layers of protection for consumers.
— Check a site’s security settings. If the site is secure, its URL (web address) should start with https://. You may also see a picture of a small, closed lock in the screen’s lower right-hand corner.
— Be cautious before clicking through to links included in social media posts, unsolicited text messages or emails. Clicking on unfamiliar links can place you at risk for malware or identity theft.
For more information, check out BBB’s Social Media Scams page at BBB.org for more examples of scammers that lurk on social channels.
BBB’s Shred Day
We had another successful event with nearly 700 individuals and families driving through to take advantage of our “one stop drop” during the three-hour event, which was held in Coca-Cola Bottling Co’s parking lot at 2111 W. Shepherd Road in Chattanooga. River City Shredding shredded documents right on site.
Resource 1 Tier 3 Data Security collected 1,865 pounds of electronics for safe recycling and destroyed 97 hard drives, 160 floppy disks/CDs and 37 backup tapes to safely eliminate personal information that was stored on each item. Hamilton County Coalition also collected 367 pounds of unneeded prescription drugs and disposed of them safely to help keep our community and environment safe.
BBB’s next Spring Shred Day event is scheduled for April 13. It will once again be held in Coca-Cola’s parking lot from 9 a.m. to noon. We hope you’ll mark your calendars and take advantage of this free event. More information can be viewed at bbb.org/chattanooga, or you can call BBB at 423-266-6144.
Michele Mason is president of the Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga.