Online Scammers Defraud Nepalis Seeking Free FIFA World Cup Broadcasts

Kathmandu. All matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage concluded on Sunday. The World Cup competition, which began on June 11, is being held in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.

Nepalese citizens have been defrauded on social media in the name of watching that football extravaganza live. The police's Cyber Bureau has stated that it is investigating after a gang was found to be operating a fraud business in the name of football.

A 25-year-old youth working in Kathmandu was a fan of the Portugal football team. While searching for a live football viewing platform, he saw an advertisement on social media. It was an advertisement for 'Nepal's All-in-One TV App (Gigi TV)'. It mentioned that all channels could be watched live and that it would work on mobile, tablet, and Android. He downloaded the advertisement seen on Facebook. As he was downloading, a message came from the app developer, 'Your Global Smart Bank account has been locked due to a money laundering issue, remove the risk by entering your bank password.'

A few moments after the victim entered the password, the Rs 23,000 in his account was transferred to an unknown person's account. Similar complaints are being received at the Cyber Bureau of the police located in Votahiti. SP Dilip Giri of the Bureau told Ratopati that 115 complaints of being defrauded in the name of watching football have been received since Jestha. He said, 'We have registered the complaints and are proceeding with the investigation.'

The police investigation concludes that the gang involved in fraud by hacking accounts through electronic means has been operating a fraud business by posting advertisements on social media Facebook offering free viewing of the FIFA World Cup. To phish victims, they use 'APK files' as a medium.

A certain amount of money has to be paid to watch the FIFA World Cup. However, SP Giri said that the general public is being defrauded by trying to watch for free due to greed for money. He said, 'Hackers make people open fake links related to the FIFA World Cup, and while giving access, they make them enter a code, after which all the money in the bank is emptied.'

Although the Bureau is investigating the complaints, the accused have not been arrested so far. So far, it has been found that more than Rs 2 crore 29 lakh has been defrauded by opening such links.

Files containing fake links are called APK files. Files like .exe, .bat after online are being used in such fraud. The gang has stolen amounts ranging from Rs 23,000 to Rs 25 lakh from the accounts of the same person. SP Giri of the Bureau urges not to open such files. He said, 'You should not click on links that have .exe and .bat attached after online.'