Don't be fooled by this "EA Sports" FIFA World Cup phishing scam

World Cup fever can manifest in a variety of ways. Usually it involves a great deal of shouting and drinking, but scammers are also having a field day doing what they do best: scamming. One such scam is playing out on Instagram at present, where a fake EA Sports account is promising new and exclusive playable characters, including Neymar. Problem is, if you follow the link provided and enter your Origin password, you'll fall victim to a phishing scam.

The 'easportsut2014' Instagram account is the main culprit. Malwarebytes Unpacked reports that it's approaching 9,000 followers with a very active community. The usual trick is to invite users to be among the first to click a link in the account's description in order to gain access to 'exclusive' goodies. Naturally, you should not do this.

It's not the first time a phishing scam has taken on the identity of EA Sports: several Twitter accounts purporting to be official EA Sports support channels popped up earlier this year. Through a process of cunning trickery the accounts directed users to a site requesting Origin details. It's a jungle out there.

In more positive FIFA news, FIFA 15 for PC will debut the fancy new Ignite Engine on our beloved platform. Apparently it's pretty nifty .

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.