Scammers Exploit Tragic Death of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota with Fake Ads and Phony Stores

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In an appalling display of opportunism, scammers have begun exploiting the tragic news of Diogo Jota’s death, a beloved Liverpool FC player from Portugal, by launching a wave of fake online ads for memorial discounts tied to the club.

Just two days after the story broke, scammers begun to exploit the tragedy, setting up one of the fraudulent domains.

Since then, Bitdefender Labs researchers identified over 270 Meta-sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram that promoted fraudulent Liverpool-themed offers. These campaigns are part of a fast-moving scam operation designed to harvest payment details and personal data from grieving fans and unsuspecting shoppers.

The fake ads typically featured messages like:

“Liverpoolfc: Condolence In Honour Our Lad From Portugal! -80%”

[Over 160 ads used this descriptive message.]

They were designed to mimic Liverpool FC’s branding and directed users to two newly registered scam domains:

• Savesalehub[.]shop
• Athleticsavesale[.]shop

Each domain hosted a cloned version of Liverpool’s e-commerce store, offering drastically discounted merchandise and urging users to “Buy It Now” in tribute.

Scammers even used an edited image of Diogo Jota and a fake R.I.P. banner to push urgency and emotion.

Targeting Strategy: European Males 25–34, Especially in Portugal

According to data from Meta’s ad library, one of the fraudulent ads reached over 8,500 users in the EU — with Portugal leading the geo-targeted list, followed by Spain, Germany, and Italy. Most of those targeted were men aged 25–34.

This targeting reflects a common scam tactic: use a victim’s nationality and club affiliation to zero in on emotional, high-conversion audiences.

Tragedy Has Become a Scam Opportunity

What’s most disturbing is how quickly and effectively cybercriminals move to exploit human grief. A player’s death, a natural disaster, or a geopolitical crisis, these moments of collective vulnerability become attack surfaces. These tactics are similar to how cybercriminals reacted to the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, the war in Ukraine or even the recent passing of Pope Francis.

They acted fast, automating the scams on platforms like Meta Ads to manipulate our emotions and trick us into acting before thinking.

What you can do to stay safe

1. Don’t trust emotional ads or massive discounts tied to a tragedy.

Official clubs do not run "condolence sales." If it feels exploitative, it likely is. At the time of writing, the official Liverpool FC store has not posted any such discounts or promotions related to Diogo Jota.

2. Use Bitdefender Scamio (Free!)

Forward suspicious messages or links to Scamio for instant scam detection.

3. Use Bitdefender Link Checker

Verify links before clicking, especially on Facebook or Instagram where fake ads proliferate.

4. Double-check domains and payment pages

Scam sites often look identical to real ones but hide behind odd domains (like .shop).

Bitdefender Has Your Back

Whether it’s a malware-laced discount scam, a fake charity appeal, or a phishing site riding on tragedy, Bitdefender solutions are built to detect, alert, and protect.

Stay alert — and don’t let scammers profit from loss.