With more than 300 scammers identified, the campaign UDOe Arena Corinthians’ reinforces cybersecurity and avoids losses

The success of the campaign “Doe Arena Corinthians”, organized by Gaviaos da Fiel to pay off the debt of the club related to the financing of Neo Chemica Arena, attracted the attention of cybercriminals, who created fake URLs to deceive fans and divert resources.Faced with this, the sports institution has entered into a partnership with the Dfense, hub of the main solutions in cybersecurity, to address the problem, which has already yielded great results: more than 300 fraudulent sites have been identified, 200 downed and 60 are under continuous monitoring.

The Information Security Master Plan (PDSI) was centered on the actions of one of the group's startups, ZenoX. The company monitors, collects, processes and analyzes data on the internet, deep and dark web, prioritizing and classifying vulnerabilities. Gabriel Paiva, founder and CEO of ZenoX and the Dfense Group, highlights that the strategy was designed not only to have financial relevance, but also emotional. “Certify cybersecurity in large public actions like this goes beyond avoiding losses in money; it is about protecting passionate people, who are united in favor of a cause and deserve tranquility to navigate the digital world.

Campaign details
Launched on November 27, 2024, the campaign of the Corinthians fans had the authorization of the club and the Federal Savings Bank to raise about R$700 million. So far, donations, made via PIX on the official website, already exceed R$28 million, and R$10 million were collected only in the first 36 hours on the air.

Marcius Ayres, Coordinator of Technology and Information Security at Corinthians, highlights how the establishment of solid digital defenses was essential for this success: “The response time of the action is being much lower than expected. Cybercriminals could generate enormous losses to the Corinthian and the campaign without due attention to the theme, so it is a work that needs to be praised”, he says.

How can fans bolster their digital defenses?
To face the actions of the money changers even more intensely, the Corinthian crowd can add protection measures to their daily lives, especially considering the exponential increase in the number of cybercrimes. According to the “Panorama of Threats for Latin America 2024”, Kaspersky, Brazil is the country that suffers the most cyber attacks in the world, registering more than 700 million virtual scams only between June 2023 and July 2024.

For Paiva, one of the main reinforcements in terms of cybersecurity is the verification of URLs. “More conventional attacks, such as email scams and phishing remain the biggest threats because they reach a large number of people quickly, so it is important that fans access the campaign website directly through the browser instead of clicking suspicious” links, he advises.

The expert also cites some additional tools to improve protections: “Antivirus, two-step authentication (2FA) and updating devices help to block unauthorized access, block malicious links and protect systems against cyber threats”.Finally, the executive also cites some measures to act quickly and minimize damage if the user is the victim of a digital scam.These are:

• Contact your financial institution, alerting the bank of unauthorized transactions and requesting the blocking of compromised cards or accounts;
  
• Gather evidence, such as emails, messages, or screenshots that may be useful for future investigations;
  
• Register an Occurrence Bulletin (BO), formalizing the complaint in a police station or through online channels to assist in the investigation of cybercriminals;
  
• Monitor statements and credit reports, tracking financial transactions to identify suspicious activity and inform the responsible agencies to prevent misuse of stolen data.