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Be not deceived: illegitimate links to streams are popping up everywhere on social media.
Chapel Hill – The N.C. High School Athletic Association wants the public about a growing trend in internet scamming.
There are hundreds of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube events being promoted – sometimes within prominent online groups – that appear to be real live streams, but are phishing for your personal information, and sometimes trying to install malware on your device.
They look similar to the image above.
These posts appear to be legitimately scheduled live streams and be associated with a high school or state association. However, when you click on the link, you are typically asked to enter personal information in order to gain access to the video.
These are fake. Do not enter any information.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, scams like this have been on the rise. At the start of the 2021-22 school year, there are hundreds of these events being circulated for the beginning of high school sports.
“Scammers know that people are looking for ways to follow their local high school team without being able to attend due to the pandemic,” said N.C. High School Athletic Association Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations James Alverson. “This is quick and easy way for someone to take advantage of the high school sports fanbase and our member schools. We want to do everything we can to ensure that fans of our member schools do not fall prey to these scammers.”
The NFHS Network is the official video streaming platform of the association. Many of its member schools are utilizing this platform for their own broadcasting needs. However, during the regular season, many schools have decided to use other entities to do their live streaming. Please check with your local high school athletic department for the correct location to watch your favorite team safely.
When on social media, the association maintains a single official account on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. The official account for each platform is @NCHSAA for Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook you can find the Association at facebook.com/NCHSAA. Some scammers use association logos and other marks to try and deceive you, but there is only one official account for each platform controlled by the association and no sport-specific accounts will be created or used to promote our events.