World Cup-related – With the 2026 FIFA World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood this Friday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials warn that scammers are taking advantage of hype and urgency—using fake FIFA-like websites, cryptocurrency and cash app payment requests, countd
When the first whistle is set for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S. — with the United States taking on Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood this Friday — soccer fans are already locked in.
But Los Angeles County Sheriff’s fraud officials say that excitement is exactly what cybercriminals are betting on.
“They know we’re excited [because] what’s bigger in Los Angeles than soccer?” Sgt. Peter Hish of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau said.
At a news conference Wednesday, officials stressed that scammers aren’t selling tickets. Det. Anthony Moore put it bluntly: “Scammers are not selling tickets. They’re selling urgency, that emotion and fear of missing out.”
The warning arrives as California remains a hotspot for cybercrime. The Sheriff’s Department said California is the No. 1 state for online fraud in the U.S., citing the FBI’s Internet Crime 2025 report. In 2025. more than 116. 000 complaints of online scams in California were filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. according to the report.
World Cup scams fake ticket websites FIFA SoFi Stadium Inglewood Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center cybersecurity ticket resale fraud cryptocurrency payment scams