Jun 8, 2026 · 27 min · 5 segments
As the World Cup kicks off we’re taking a look at the sport which is estimated to have over 4 billion followers across the globe. Unsurprisingly with a fanbase that large - soccer now operates on an…
Carlo BoffaGuestPaul O'DonoghueDee ReddyHostThere's a few which would be kind of typical risks during larger events.
You would think of, say, touting and ticket fraud, so that could be, say, selling fake tickets through websites or resale platforms.
Then there's also risk of money laundering through gambling and through cash businesses.
So to be a little bit more specific then to World Cup 2026, the US Treasury, for example, has put out a warning to banks where they've said that they should be on the lookout for signs of human trafficking.
So this is something, again, which is common during large events like the World Cup, essentially because there is this big demand for labor.
Officials are concerned that migrant workers could end up getting exploited, and the traffickers would end up, you know, just taking profits for themselves, essentially.
So you have this situation where the Treasury has said to banks, "Okay, you need to be on the lookout for the type of thing, like if, uh, say, a company's payroll is different from normal.
One of the ones which I've seen repeat online quite a bit is this idea of a World Cup visa, and officials have said this is kind of one of the most dangerous fraud categories.
Because most people who are looking to go into the US, they are going to need some kind of visa, like a, an ESTA or something, which is a tourist visa a lot of people use.
It's often being listed for, say, €270 on scam sites, and essentially no such visa exists.
So these are just the types of things which officials are flagging, which are risks around this World Cup.
Paul, you mentioned there about various risks that we would typically see at an event like this, one of them obviously being human trafficking.
Does that create an increased risk of people perhaps falling victim to human trafficking? Because on one hand, the US Treasury is cracking down on it, but on the other hand, ICE is also.
Yeah, so like that, there are a couple of things which are a little bit more specific to World Cup 2026.
I suppose raids by ICE, so this is kind of the US, um, you know, immigration police.
Uh, that would be one of the more obvious ones which would come to mind when people are thinking about it.
And I suppose particularly because in the World Cup, there will be a lot of migrants going and attending these matches.
So there is definitely that concern, which is unique to World Cup 2026.
There's a few which would be kind of typical risks during larger events.
You would think of, say, touting and ticket fraud, so that could be, say, selling fake tickets through websites or resale platforms.
Then there's also risk of money laundering through gambling and through cash businesses.
So to be a little bit more specific then to World Cup 2026, the US Treasury, for example, has put out a warning to banks where they've said that they should be on the lookout for signs of human trafficking.
So this is something, again, which is common during large events like the World Cup, essentially because there is this big demand for labor.
Officials are concerned that migrant workers could end up getting exploited, and the traffickers would end up, you know, just taking profits for themselves, essentially.
So you have this situation where the Treasury has said to banks, "Okay, you need to be on the lookout for the type of thing, like if, uh, say, a company's payroll is different from normal.
One of the ones which I've seen repeat online quite a bit is this idea of a World Cup visa, and officials have said this is kind of one of the most dangerous fraud categories.
Because most people who are looking to go into the US, they are going to need some kind of visa, like a, an ESTA or something, which is a tourist visa a lot of people use.
It's often being listed for, say, €270 on scam sites, and essentially no such visa exists.
So these are just the types of things which officials are flagging, which are risks around this World Cup.
Paul, you mentioned there about various risks that we would typically see at an event like this, one of them obviously being human trafficking.
Does that create an increased risk of people perhaps falling victim to human trafficking? Because on one hand, the US Treasury is cracking down on it, but on the other hand, ICE is also.
Yeah, so like that, there are a couple of things which are a little bit more specific to World Cup 2026.
I suppose raids by ICE, so this is kind of the US, um, you know, immigration police.
Uh, that would be one of the more obvious ones which would come to mind when people are thinking about it.
And I suppose particularly because in the World Cup, there will be a lot of migrants going and attending these matches.
So there is definitely that concern, which is unique to World Cup 2026.
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