As high school football playoffs are in full swing, fans of local teams should be aware of spam posts promoting video streams of their favorite teams.
These posts circle on social media giving details about a broadcast of a local team, providing a link where fans can watch the team’s broadcast.
If you click the link, it will take you to a page where you’re asked to create an account to watch the game.
“Some of these pages are very convincing,” says Voice of the Whippets Breck Riley. “It has all the looks of a real web page that is broadcasting the promoted game, but make no mistake, it is not legit. It’s basically a phishing scam that is just looking to get an email/password or other private information from you.”
The images included in this article are examples of a scams promoting Kosciusko and Leake Academy broadcasts. One was found in a Kosciusko Whippets Facebook fan page and the other was posted on Twitter.
“A lot of times these posts promise video coverage of the game, which, in the playoffs, should be a red flag,” said Riley. “Both the MHSAA and the MAIS charge a hefty fee to video stream playoff games. It’s why most schools and broadcast crews do not carry video broadcasts during the playoffs. The people behind these scams know that, so they prey on folks wanting to find a way to watch the game.”
Riley says if you are ever in doubt about whether a post is legitimate or not, it’s best to stick with the broadcast team you know or to contact the school to find out how to watch or listen to the whichever game you are wanting to follow.
“Dance with the one who brought you. And by that I mean, when it comes to Kosciusko and Leake Academy, Boswell Media Sports is the ONLY place you need to go for the games. We will have radio and online audio streaming coverage while both teams are in the playoffs.”
See broadcast details for this week’s games here.
