08/24/21 – Social Media Accounts and Websites Impersonating the NFHS Network

August 24, 2021 Athletic Department Blog Updates

We are aware of the issues with scam social media accounts and websites impersonating the NFHS Network to distribute false links to game broadcasts. This is hardly a new problem, but it is continuing to get worse and seems to amplify in advance of Friday night football games.

The fake sites are NOT stealing and streaming the video feeds. They are scraping the scheduled events and marketing them as if they will have them, in hopes of scamming someone into entering their payment info. The NFHS Network reports these accounts when they become aware, but new ones are constantly popping up. Member schools can help prevent fans from being scammed by following the NFHS Network accounts and sharing posts directly from them. You should also make sure you are regularly communicating with your fans so they know the correct websites to view your contests.

If any NFHS Network school partners see something like that – a social media account that is NOT the NFHS Network (@NFHSNetwork) using its branding and claiming to have games that will only be streamed on the NFHS Network – they are encouraged to contact McKenzie Lewis (mckenzie.lewis@nfhsnetwork.com) at the NFHS, and report the accounts themselves on those respective social media channels. It helps if multiple people report them.

It is important to remember that ALL SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING from the NFHS Network will come from official NFHS Network accounts. If a school sees an account that is NOT the NFHS Network promoting live streams of its games, and the link goes somewhere other than to the NFHS Network, it is almost certainly a scam – especially if it’s a Twitter account whose handle looks suspicious (something along the lines of @highschoolstreaming46592839, @footballlive142972, etc.).

On Facebook, these fake sites will create fake accounts (sometimes using imagery from the NFHS) and schedule hundreds of Facebook events and invite schools to join or cohost the event. This is not the NFHS and has never been a strategy of theirs.

On Twitter, a simple search for “high school live stream” will deliver dozens of these fake posts. If a link in a tweet about streaming high school sports does not contain “nfhsnetwork.com,” as the domain, it is not affiliated with the Network.

– KHSAA –

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 285 member schools both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 215 state championships to 51 teams and 164 individuals in 13 sports and 6 sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 106,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches, and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.