As the World Cup draws near, misleading scam advertisements are spreading on social media claiming that the matches can be watched for free. When users click on the links in such advertisements that mislead them by showing attractive offers and downloading unauthorized apps, incidents of people's mobile phones and computers being hacked and money being stolen from their bank accounts have increased.

Anil Dangol Maharjan of Chabahil saw an advertisement on Facebook last Sunday evening that he could watch the World Cup for free through 'NBTV'. Due to his interest in the World Cup and the convenience of watching it for free on his mobile, he immediately tried to download the app by clicking on the link in the advertisement. As soon as he clicked the link, his mobile hung. After the mobile seemed to be stuck for a long time, he tried restarting it, but the phone continued to be 'slow'.

'I didn't know why it was hanging at first,' he told Kantipur, 'After some time, a message came on my watch that money had been deducted from my bank account.' Then I was shocked, I finally realized that I had been hacked. The phone was not working, and since the watch was connected to the phone, I saw three messages coming in a row. Three hundred thousand rupees were deducted three times.'

Even though I hurriedly turned off the phone, 100,000 rupees had already been deducted from Machhapuchhre Bank and 200,000 rupees from Nepal Bank Limited. The next morning, he said, he filed a complaint with the Cyber ​​Bureau and informed the banks to stop the online banking service.

Even after a week, Dangol's phone still keeps getting the message 'Download complete, please restart'. 'After restarting, when you enter the password to open the mobile, the hacker gets the opportunity to withdraw money from the bank,' he said. 'While we unlock the mobile with fingerprint or facial recognition, the hacker is getting permission to the banking app. I felt like my mobile remote was in someone else's hands.'

He says that even after deleting all the 'APK' files downloaded on his phone and continuing to use the phone, he has started to fear the word 'download'. 'Now I may not even be able to do any official download,' he said, 'I am afraid of downloading. I am tempted because it is the World Cup.'

With a week left for the World Cup, such fraud and cybercrime incidents have increased widely on social media. Police data shows that in the last 10 to 12 days alone, Rs 75 lakh has been defrauded in the name of the World Cup.

Spokesperson Dilip Kumar Giri informed that 50 complaints have been received by the Cyber ​​Bureau during this period. According to him, there is a trend of people clicking on phishing links by placing advertisements saying 'World Cup Live Free' on Facebook. The bureau has recently released an awareness video on social media to warn about such scams.

‘When you click on the link sent by the hackers, they gain access to your mobile and empty your bank account,’ said spokesperson Giri. ‘The police are currently coordinating with the banks to track down those involved in the fraud and try to recover the money. It takes time to track down as many complaints have been filed simultaneously and small amounts of money have been stolen from many accounts and deposited in many accounts. However, the police will gradually find out.’

A young man from Kavre also suffered a similar fate on Thursday afternoon. When his brother clicked on a link to watch the World Cup on Facebook and installed and updated the app, the mobile overheated and shut down on its own. ‘The mobile restarted and the mobile banking app opened automatically,’ he said. ‘After looking, Rs 3 lakh was deducted from the account. Even now, my brother’s mobile is completely under the control of the hacker. We have switched off the phone for fear that more money will be deducted or the files will be misused. Now we will go to the Cyber ​​Bureau.'

In these incidents, the daily transaction limit of the user is 100,000 or 200,000 rupees, so much theft has occurred. According to the police, some of those with higher transaction limits have had up to 1.5 million rupees stolen online.

The police have requested not to use 'APK' files or suspicious links that come randomly to watch World Cup football. The Cyber ​​Bureau has said in its video that you should use the television channels of official broadcasters or licensed official mobile apps. The police have pointed out that downloading unauthorized apps under the temptation of watching for free puts your personal details and bank accounts at risk.

In Nepal, the Himalaya Sports HD television channel and the Digigo mobile app can officially watch the FIFA World Cup 2026 matches. Spro Media has the official broadcasting rights for Nepal, and it has entered into a commercial partnership with Himalaya Television and Digo Platform to bring the games to the audience. This time, the World Cup will not be available on any other channel or digital platform.