World Cup fans targeted by online gambling scams

World Cup fans are being targeted by online gambling scams, Shanghai police warned yesterday.

Even though gambling is illegal on China's mainland, some football fans are tempted to use sites and are paying the price, said officers.

Some fans are being enticed by soccer gambling messages promoting sites promising good odds, said police.

But those enticed often discover that after they provide bank details to transfer their stake cash, malware would drain their accounts.

Other websites lure victims with promises of cash for registering, allow them to "win" and then only gradually swindle them by never paying out.

One Shanghai web user, enticed by a scam message promising him 88 yuan (US$14) for registration, transferred 100 yuan to an account.

He won with his first World Cup bets, but then realized that he could not access either his winnings nor his "registration bonus."

Football fans are also been scammed by "World Cup prediction" software, police said.

A local man, surnamed Li, told police that he received an email touting "World Cup prediction" software that promised a high degree of accuracy, so paid 20,000 yuan for the service.

When the results didn't go his way and the seller asked him to pay another 100,000 yuan to improve his chances, Li realized that he'd been conned.