A hockey tournament scam is targeting minor hockey teams with fake invitations to real tournaments, CBC reports. Coaches, team managers and parents who arrange registration or travel should verify an invitation before sharing information or sending money.
A fake invitation does not mean the tournament itself or its organizers are involved. Scammers can misuse the name of a genuine event to make a message seem familiar and trustworthy. Treat an unexpected invitation as unverified until you confirm it through a contact method you find independently.
What the hockey tournament scam looks like
The reported tactic involves a fake invitation connected to a real tournament. The message may appear to come from an event organizer, team contact or another familiar hockey source. It could arrive by email, text, social media or a team messaging group.
In general, a fraudulent invitation may try to move a team toward a registration form, payment request or request for personal details. It may use the name of a real tournament, but that alone does not show that the invitation is genuine. The details of any particular message should be checked rather than assumed.
Team communications often involve several people: a coach may receive the invitation, a manager may handle registration and a parent may arrange payment. That shared responsibility can make it harder to notice that nobody has verified the sender. Agree on one person to confirm the event and payment details before anyone acts.
Use a contact route that you already trust or locate independently. For example, check with your association through its usual contact, or find the tournament’s official website yourself rather than following a link in the invitation. Hockey Canada’s official website is hockeycanada.ca; your local association can also help direct you to the right tournament contact.
If the invitation appears to use a real tournament’s name, contact the organizers through independently confirmed details and ask whether your team was invited and whether the registration or payment instructions are theirs. Do not rely on a phone number, email address or link supplied only in the message you are checking.
Red flags to watch for
- An unexpected invitation. Your team is contacted about an event, but the coach, manager or association was not expecting it and cannot confirm the invitation.
- A familiar name with unfamiliar contact details. The message refers to a real tournament, but the sender’s email address, website or payment instructions do not match information your team has independently verified.
- Pressure to act quickly. A request to pay, register or provide information immediately can make it harder for the team to check the details properly.
- Payment instructions that change. Treat a new account, payment method or recipient as a reason to pause and confirm directly with the tournament through a trusted contact route.
- Requests for more information than seems necessary. Be cautious if an invitation asks for personal, financial or account details before your team has confirmed the event and why those details are needed.
- A link that you are urged to use without checking. Avoid entering information through an invitation link until you have verified the event and destination independently.
- Different stories within the team. If parents, coaches and managers have received different instructions or nobody knows who approved a payment, stop and compare the messages before proceeding.
- A refusal to verify. Be wary if the sender discourages you from contacting the tournament office or your association using contact information you find yourself.
What to do if you’ve been targeted
- Pause and do not follow the invitation’s instructions. Do not send money, provide personal or banking information, or enter team members’ details until the invitation is confirmed. If someone else on the team received it, ask them to pause too.
- Verify the event independently. Contact the tournament organizers or your hockey association using contact information you already have or find separately. Ask whether the invitation, registration process and payment details are legitimate. Do not use contact details supplied only by the sender.
- Tell the people involved in team decisions. Let the coach, manager and relevant parents know that the invitation is being checked. Agree that no one will pay or submit information until the team has confirmed the instructions through a trusted route.
- If you shared a password, change it. Go directly to the relevant service using its official app or website, change the password and update it anywhere else you reused it. Turn on available extra sign-in protection. Do not use a password-reset link from the suspicious message.
- If you shared banking details or sent money, contact your bank promptly. Explain what happened and ask what steps are available to protect the account or try to stop or recover a payment. Follow the bank’s advice, and monitor the account for activity you do not recognize.
- Keep the evidence. Save the message, sender details, payment instructions and any receipts or forms. Take screenshots if needed, but do not forward a suspicious link to other families as a warning; share the message safely with your association or reporting authorities instead.
- Warn your association and tournament organizers. Use contact details you have independently checked. They may be able to alert other teams and advise whether the invitation is connected to their event.
- Report the incident. Reporting can help authorities identify patterns and gives you a record of what happened. If money or banking details were involved, contact your bank as well as making a report.
How to report it
Report suspected fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501. Include the message and other details you saved, such as the sender information and any payment instructions.
You can also contact your local police service. If money was sent or banking details were shared, contact your bank directly and promptly using the number on your bank card or another trusted contact method. Tell your hockey association and the tournament organizers through independently verified channels so they can check the invitation and alert affected teams.
Before a team commits to an unfamiliar invitation, verify that the event and the instructions really come from its organizers. A short pause to confirm the details can help protect team funds and families’ personal information.
Source: Scam targeting minor hockey teams with fake invite for real tournaments, group warns – CBC
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The Scam Alert Team tracks fraud targeting Canadians and turns official warnings into clear, practical advice. Our team has a background in IT and cybersecurity, and every article is fact-checked against official sources before publication. How we verify alerts