Beware of scams disguised as webstreams of games

September 21, 2022 by Seth Polansky, AZPreps365


The Arizona Interscholastic Association wants to warn the public about a growing trend in internet scamming. There are thousands of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube events being promoted, sometimes within prominent online groups, that appear to be real live streams, but are phishing for your personal information, and sometimes trying to install malware on your device.

They look similar to these images:

These posts appear to be legitimately scheduled live streams and be associated with a high school or state association. However, when you click on the link, you are typically asked to enter personal information in order to gain access to the video. These are fake. Do not enter any information.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, scams like this have been on the rise. At the start of the 2021-22 school year, there are thousands of these events being circulated for the beginning of high school sports all across the country.

The NFHS Network is the official video streaming platform of the AIA. Many of its member schools are utilizing this platform for their own broadcasting needs. However, during the regular season, many schools have decided to use other entities to do their live streaming, which are also approved by the AIA. Please check with your local high school athletic department for the correct location to watch your favorite team safely.

When on social media, the AIA maintains a single official account on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. No other platforms. The official account for each platform is @AZPreps365. Some scammers use AIA and AZPreps365 logos and other marks to try and deceive you, but there is only one official account for each platform controlled by the AIA and no sport-specific accounts will be created or used to promote our events.