ST. LOUIS–With area high school sports schedules ready to kick off into full swing with the first weekend of prep football in both Missouri and Illinois, area high school athletic directors and the Better Business Bureau are warning the public about scams promoting “free” streaming of events that could put personal information at risk.

In recent years, schools have produced their own live streams of events, especially during the pandemic when COVID restrictions limited attendance. 

But scammers have taken to using social media to promote “free” streams, often tagging schools on social media to appear legitimate, only to lead consumers to sign up to pay for a stream that doesn’t exist, all while surrendering credit card information or other data in the process.

“Fans need to remain diligent in where and how they find the stream of a high school contest,” Matt Troha, an Assistant Executive Director with the Illinois High School Association, told the BBB.  

“On Twitter especially, take notice of account names and photos, which often seem to be random, and look at their follower and following numbers,” Troha said. “Low follower counts indicate the account likely was just started. Look at the content of their posts as most are nothing but tweets to stream games.” 

Last year, state associations that oversee high school athletics in New Mexico, Indiana, and North Carolina issued warnings about the fake streams. 

Legitimate streams are typically found on a high school athletic department’s YouTube page or on the school or athletic department’s website.