Most websites associated with Olympics 'risky'

A study suggests websites offering travel services such as tickets and hotel rooms and live streams for the Rio Olympics could put consumers at risk.

The analysis by NetNames reveals that 89 per cent of 743 generic top level domains (gTLDs) containing 'Rio 2016' are not registered to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Moreover, "a number of websites with official sounding domain names have been highlighted as containing live content that could pose a threat to the public," says the online security firm.

Seemingly credible websites offering all-inclusive services including flights, hotels, transfers and tickets to the games can be set up using relatively rudimentary coding skills and an authentic looking domain name, making it a common threat for online shoppers, it notes.

"Our research shows that the threat posed by cyber-criminals at this year’s Olympic Games is very real," commented NetNames' chief executive Gary McIlraith.

"Fraudsters have set up websites to con consumers at every possible opportunity, from booking hotel rooms, buying tickets and searching for local events, to purchasing official merchandise and streaming online."

NetNames recommends that consumers beware of 'too good to be true', cut-price deals and do some groundwork to check the authenticity of a site - including how long it has been registered (via www.who.is) and whether it displays a security certificate - and to check online peer reviews.

Figures released by the UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) this month reveal there were 3.8m fraud cases reported in the UK in the year end to March, with 2m of those relating specifically to digital or IT misuse.

Most victims do not discover they have been duped until arriving at the airport, hotel or event, only to find that their online booking is not a genuine, says NetNames. It cites the case of one British family that was recently conned out of almost £4,000 to stay in a Greek Villa they found on Tripadvisor.com, only to later discover they had transferred the sum to a fraudster.