The energy is impossible to miss. Sacramento soccer fans are buzzing with the kind of excitement that only comes around once every four years—the FIFA World Cup is happening right here in the United States, and matches are just two hours away in the Bay Area. Watch parties across Sacramento are packed with supporters wearing their colors, singing their anthems, and dreaming of what it would mean to see their team play live on American soil.
For many, that dream comes with a serious price tag. Tickets are ranging anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the match and seat location. Brothers Jorge Jimenez and Christian Jimenez are shelling out $2,800 apiece to catch the quarterfinal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.“But it’s worth it,”they tell anyone who’ll listen. It’s hard to argue when you’ve waited as long as Jorge Karam has—he’s been counting down“essentially, the last eight years for the World Cup to take place here in the United States.”
But here’s where the dream gets messy. As ticket demand soars, so does the appetite of scammers looking to capitalize on that desperation. The FBI is warning Americans about a growing wave of World Cup-related fraud: fake ticket offers, fraudulent travel packages, and lookalike websites designed to steal both your money and your personal information. The Better Business Bureau even received a report of a Craigslist listing hawking World Cup tickets for just $75—a price so suspiciously low it practically screams setup.
Molly Wanless-Smith with the Better Business Bureau keeps it simple:“If it’s too good to be true, it is.”The advice sounds obvious until you’re staring at a ticket you can’t afford through normal channels, scrolling past what looks like a legitimate deal on social media, and fighting the urge to pull the trigger. That’s exactly where scammers want you—desperate and not thinking straight.
The solution, thankfully, is straightforward. Buy through official channels. Ticketmaster and FIFA’s direct site are your safest bets. Do your research on unfamiliar websites. Compare prices across known, reputable sellers. Take a few extra minutes to verify before handing over cash or credit card details. It might feel like a buzzkill when you’re riding high on World Cup fever, but it beats losing thousands to someone who was never selling a real ticket in the first place.
If you do stumble across what you suspect is a scam, report it through the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. The tournament is here. The opportunity is real. Just make sure the tickets are too.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
