FBI warns Houston fans about fake World Cup ticket websites

Houston soccer fans are being warned to slow down before clicking on World Cup ticket links, because fake FIFA websites are already targeting people searching for seats, travel and hospitality packages. The FBI posted a cyber alert on May 27, 2026, saying cybercriminals are spoofing FIFA branding with lookalike pages designed to steal money and personal information.

The bureau said it has identified dozens of suspicious domains and expects the fraud to expand as interest builds around tickets, lodging, merchandise and jobs tied to the tournament. The sites often rely on typo squatting, using tiny spelling changes, unfamiliar endings or other URL tricks that make a bad link look legitimate at first glance. Some pages advertise ticket offers or hospitality packages that do not exist. Others are built only to collect names, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and banking details before vanishing.

The warning lands hard in Houston, where FIFA says the city will host seven matches during the 2026 World Cup. Those games are scheduled for June 14, June 17, June 20, June 23, June 27, June 29 and July 4, 2026. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026, with 48 teams, 104 fixtures and 16 host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. As those dates approach, Harris County residents will be competing with out-of-town visitors, vendors and travelers for tickets and game-day access, which gives scammers a bigger pool of rushed buyers to target.

FIFA’s official ticket pages direct fans to FIFA.com for ticket and hospitality information, and say U.S.-bound ticket purchasers and guests may use FIFA PASS in the visa application process. Official hospitality packages have also been offered through FIFA and authorized sellers, which makes the real channels clear even as impostors try to copy them. The FBI’s spoofing and phishing guidance says fraudulent sites can look nearly identical to legitimate ones and are commonly used to steal passwords, credit card numbers and banking PINs.

Houston Public Media reported that the FBI said a full list of known fake websites is available through the Internet Crime Complaint Center, though more fraudulent URLs likely exist. The practical defense is simple: go directly to FIFA’s official site, bookmark trusted pages and double-check every web address before entering payment information. In a surge of World Cup fever, a single hurried click can turn excitement into identity theft or a drained bank account.