The Sun has reported that in a leaked memo sent to all of the European soccer federations, organized crime members are offering up to $30,000 to referees to fix soccer matches.
The modus operandi of the criminals is to find the referees online and begin communication to tempt them to sway matches one way. The referees were contacted via social media according to the report.
The memo also stated, “The corrupters made use of cyber-crime tactics not previously seen in reported corrupter messages, possibly pointing to a bleed-over in tactics from more sophisticated groups or even the potential for collaboration with such groups.”
Memo sent to FA’s warn over bribes to officials
The memo continued stating, “This evolution may have been accelerated by the Covid lockdown, during which cyber criminals both diversified and intensified their criminal activities, according to Europol.”
“We assess corrupters will likely continue to attempt contact with players, referees and other officials via social media and the use of more sophisticated messages, including personalized content and manipulation techniques” the memo continued.
According to The Sun the outreach to officials comes from organized crime gangs in Asia and the messages are sent in English although the memo or the report did not state from which federations the referees had received the bribe messages.