In the coming months, soccer fans across the globe will use our apps to connect around the FIFA World Cup 2026\u2122. While most will be rooting for their favorite teams and players, unfortunately there may be bad actors who will try to lure people into scams or harass and abuse others \u2014 offline and online.<\/span><\/p>\n Before the competition kicks off, we\u2019re sharing more details about the steps we\u2019re taking to combat scams and keep fans and players safe.<\/span><\/p>\n Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics and so are we. That\u2019s why we <\/span>recently announced<\/span><\/a> new investments in advanced AI, tools for people to spot and avoid scams, and partnerships with law enforcement and industry peers to take action and hold scammers accountable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Global sporting events can lead to an increase in fraud, like ticketing scams, false offers of immigration processing, and misleading accommodations for those looking to travel to matches. We have dedicated teams monitoring and enforcing against accounts that attempt to target people with these scams and violate our policies.<\/span><\/p>\n We know scammers rarely target only one platform, so we\u2019re working across industry to disrupt scam networks through the Global Signal Exchange (GSE) and Meta\u2019s Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE). Meta collaborated with Visa through the GSE, to proactively disrupt cross-channel fraud. By providing timely and actionable scam intelligence, Visa\u2019s Scam Disruption team facilitated Meta\u2019s identification and dismantling of a network on Facebook that linked to spoofed websites that mimicked the FIFA World Cup 2026 official branding and promoted fake gambling content. These fraudulent websites advertised too-good-to-be-true win rates and attempted to lure people to provide personal or financial information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We will continue to take action and work with our partners through our signal sharing programs to get ahead of evolving scam tactics in the lead-up to, during, and after the FIFA World Cup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Starting this week, we\u2019re launching a Facebook pop up notification that will remind people throughout the tournament to make sure they get tickets from verifiable sources. When people search for terms related to FIFA World Cup tickets on Facebook or visit related Groups, we\u2019ll remind them what to look out for before buying tickets, and also share links to our reporting tool so they can report suspicious content or accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We also continue to invest in consumer education along with our partners to help people learn how they can spot and avoid scams and stay safe online. We\u2019re supporting partners like the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), Canada\u2019s national fraud and cybercrime intake and coordination unit that supports counter fraud efforts across the country, and Stand Against Scams, on a national anti-scam awareness campaign led by the Canadian Anti\u2011Scam Coalition, to help fans stay informed and protected online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re also partnering with Mexico\u2019s Consumer Protection Agency (<\/span>PROFECO<\/span><\/a>),\u00a0 to launch a creator-led campaign that raises awareness about common scams expected around the tournament, such as fake ticket sales and impersonation of official FIFA World Cup related websites.<\/span><\/p>\n We have clear rules against <\/span>bullying and harassment<\/span><\/a>, violent threats, and hateful conduct toward both players and fans. No one should be subject to this kind of abuse, and we remove this content when we find it. We use reports from our community and AI technology to proactively detect content that violates our policies. We also <\/span>regularly report<\/span><\/a> on our progress to enforce these policies. Between October and December 2025, we removed 2.6 million pieces of hateful content on Facebook and Instagram, and found more than 74% of it before anyone reported it to us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We regularly speak to players, teams, and associations around the world to make sure they know about our latest safety policies and features, and we continue to listen carefully to their feedback.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to detecting and removing violating content, we continue to develop and update features to help people stay safe on our apps. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, we\u2019ve introduced features like <\/span>Restrict<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>tag and mention controls<\/span><\/a> to help reduce unwanted contact, comments, and tags. On Facebook, professional accounts can use <\/span>Moderation Assist<\/span><\/a>, an automation tool for controlling which comments appear on their Page or profile based on certain criteria like new comments with images or links.<\/span><\/p>\n People can also turn off DM requests on Instagram \u2014 meaning they won\u2019t receive messages from anyone they don\u2019t follow \u2014 and report potentially violating messages to us. However, some public figures have told us they want to leave DM requests on to hear from fans and other members of their community. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve developed additional safety tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hidden Words: <\/b>This Instagram <\/span>safety feature<\/span><\/a> automatically filters comments or DM requests containing offensive words, phrases, emojis, and spam content you don\u2019t want to see. For comments, you can choose to hide \u201csome\u201d comments on your posts or \u201cmore\u201d for even higher levels of protection. You can also customize your own Hidden Words list to filter out DM requests or comments that include those specific words. Facebook will be rolling out a similar setting for FIFA World Cup tournament athletes and teams to hide comments with potentially offensive content.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\nCombating Scams<\/h2>\n
Educating Consumers<\/h2>\n
Combating Abuse<\/h2>\n
![\"Limit](\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/05_Limit-Interactions.jpg?resize=960%2C836\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Abuse](\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/06_Stronger-Blocking-and-Abuse-Prevention.jpg?resize=960%2C836\")
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