Windsor Spitfires warn fans of scams ahead of 2024/2025 season

Ryan Struthers of the Windsor Spitfires battles for the puck in a game against North Bay on Oct. 13, 2023. (Source: Tim Cornett/OHL Images)

The Windsor Spitfires are urging hockey fans to be cautious ahead of the regular season, reminding people not to give personal information or credit card details to unofficial sports streaming sites online.

In a post to social media, the hockey club said there is an incredible amount of scams going around, telling fans the only official streams to watch games are on OHL Live or CHL TV.

"It's unfortunate, because there's a lot of it going around," said Windsor Spitfires Manager of Communications, Media and Community Relations, Nick Welsh.

"Facebook social media is the one and only place that we get a lot of scammers and we block them right away," Welsh explained. "We usually put out a notice at the start of every season, you know, don't fall of these scams. Never put your credit card information in and follow along on our Spitfires channels for the latest news."

Welsh said people should be diligent about the streaming and merchandise websites they see, suggesting no one wants to fall victim to any scam.

"For us, everything is WindsorSpitfires.com. You'll find the latest and up to date information and that's the official source of everything Windsor Spitfires," Welsh said.

Mean time, London based technology expert Carmi Levy urges a similar approach in practicing extra caution.

"Unfortunately for all of us, every season seems to be scam season," Levy said.

"We need to slow things down and take the time to make absolutely sure that who we are dealing with are, in fact, legitimate. And if they aren't, back off and double check."

"So, don't click on links in your social media account. Instead, go directly to the website, open up a new browser session, go to the website of the organization, the Windsor Spitfires, whoever, and then log in and see if they in fact have that deal, if they are in fact making that offer," Levy said.

He continued, "If you're not sure, you can always reach out to them directly. They'll be able to tell you which way is up."

Levy told CTV News he finds it disheartening that in 2024, people are still being victimized by this kind of online scams.

"Unfortunately for us, cyber criminals are becoming a lot more sophisticated in how they do their business. Their tools are becoming much higher fidelity. It's becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between a fraudulent website and a real one. So as they get better, we've got to pay more attention."

Levy said, "We need to assume that something when we first see it on social media is fraudulent and have them prove to you that it's legitimate, before you choose to engage with it. We can't simply believe that just because we saw it on Facebook or TikTok or Instagram, that it is, in fact, legitimate. We have to do our homework. We have to dig a little bit deeper."

"If we think things are bad now, wait a few weeks or months or years, because artificial intelligence in the hands of cyber criminals, of scam artists, is making it much easier for them to produce increasingly high fidelity fake ads. And so if we think it's difficult to tell the difference today, just wait a little bit. It's only going to get worse because AI is making it ridiculously easy for consumers to do it, for criminals to do their thing. and unfortunately, we aren't taking the time to lean in and sort of, you know, do our homework, do our due diligence."