Live-stream scammers have been targeting fans of the London International Horse Show, Olympia by posting fake links that ask them for credit card details to view the show’s archive footage.
The much-loved Christmas event, which was cancelled this year because of the pandemic, has been streaming new footage and events from previous years during the week the show should have taken place.
The stream can be viewed for free on the Olympia website but several users have fallen foul of links on social media that take them to fake platforms, which charge a nominal fee and steal their credit card details.
The common scam targets many sporting events and often uses duplicated Facebook pages with slightly different names to trick users into thinking the content is legitimate. Fake social media accounts are also used to post links to scam sites in the comments.
Other equine events to be targeted by clone pages include Badminton and Burghley horse trials, and the Dublin and Liverpool international shows.
Wiggy Bamforth, marketing manager for Hpower Group which runs Olympia, told H&H she had seen more than 50 invitations from fake pages trying to link to Olympia in the past 24 hours alone.
“It’s not just Olympia, it affects a lot of other large sporting events where the scammers think they can make a lot of money,” Wiggy said. “It can be quite easy to fall for it as the fake platforms can look very similar to the genuine ones.
“It’s been a problem for the past four or five years.”
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“I think the people behind it are a group that’s come across equestrianism and thought this is a good way
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She added that fewer than 10 people had reported falling for the scam so far this year but that it was enough to want to make sure people were aware of the problem.
“If people are concerned then they can make sure they are on the right page by typing in www.olympiahorseshow.com or searching for Olympia Horse Show in Google and clicking the top link. All our streaming content is free and we won’t ask for their card details,” she added.
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