The 2026 World Cup Is Triggering a Surge in Travel Fraud

The 2026 World Cup Is Triggering a Surge in Travel Fraud With consumers losing an average of nearly $300 per fraud incident, Spreedly says that travel, ticketing, and payment leaders are preparing for increased fraud risks, transaction pressure, and checkout complexity

DURHAM, N.C., June 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As excitement builds ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, cybersecurity experts and consumer advocates are already warning of an increase in ticketing scams and digital payment fraud tied to the tournament.

Recent reports from Lloyds Bank have found:

• a 36% spike in fake ticket scams ahead of the World Cup
• consumers losing an average of nearly $300 per fraud incident on fake season tickets or VIP packages
• some victims losing thousands of dollars through fraudulent ticketing websites and payment schemes

At the same time, travel, ticketing, and commerce brands are preparing for what is expected to drive one of the largest surges in cross-border digital transactions in recent history.

Spreedly (www.spreedly.com), the world's leading open payments platform, says the tournament will act as a real-time stress test for payment infrastructure, fraud prevention systems, and global checkout experiences.

The tournament is expected to drive major spikes in:

• international travel bookings
• ticket purchases
• mobile transactions
• hospitality transactions
• cross-border payment activity

"Global events like the World Cup create enormous complexity for merchants because consumer expectations for seamless payments continue to rise while fraud and operational risk increase simultaneously," said Justin Benson, CEO of Spreedly.

"Travel brands are often at the cutting edge of payments innovation because they operate across currencies, borders, devices, and time zones at massive scale. If you want to understand where the future of payments and fraud is heading, study the travel industry."

According to a study by Nuvei and Edgar, Dunn & Company, 82% of travelers will try another method when faced with a payment failure. If unsuccessful, 13% try a competitor and 5% abandon the transaction. The findings reveal how payment friction impacts revenue loss.

"International travel events at this scale create enormous operational complexity across payments, fraud prevention, and customer experience," said Justin Skagen, VP of Revenue Integrity and Operational Compliance at Arrivia. "As booking volume and cross-border transactions increase, payment performance and fraud resilience become directly tied to customer trust and conversion."

According to Spreedly leaders, AI is also accelerating the speed and sophistication of fraud attempts tied to major global commerce events. "The challenge is that AI and automation are dramatically shrinking the amount of time businesses have to identify and respond to threats," said Jennifer Rosario, Chief Information Security Officer at Spreedly. "As transaction volume increases globally, merchants can no longer rely on manual processes alone. Automated defenses and flexible payment infrastructure become essential."

Spreedly works with many of the world's leading commerce, travel, hospitality, and marketplace brands to orchestrate payments across hundreds of payment services globally.

About Spreedly
Spreedly (www.spreedly.com) is an open payments platform company redefining global commerce. The company is trusted by major brands including BMW, CLEAR, HBO Max, Hopper, Lemonade, Getty, Warner, The New York Times, Priceline, and others. Spreedly processes over $60 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) on behalf of more than 400 customers across over 100 countries.

Media contact

Olya Orda
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SOURCE Spreedly