Matildas fans looking for last-minute tickets have been warned to be wary of scammers ahead of Wednesday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final.

The National Anti-Scam Centre issued the warning after it received multiple reports of scams targeting Matildas fans on social media, including through fraudulent ticket sale offers and fake live-stream links to matches.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said the Matildas’ success understandably inspired Australians, but that they should be careful when trying to secure last-minute tickets for hugely popular events such as the semi-finals.

“We are already seeing initial reports of scam activity, particularly on Facebook, where scammers are responding to posts from people looking for tickets and using compromised accounts to sell non-existent tickets,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.

Lowe also said there had been reports of scammers claiming there was a problem with a payment for World Cup tickets, and asking for it to be made again.

Scammers usually use social media to post or directly contact consumers, or respond to posts from people looking to buy tickets to a major event, saying they have tickets available for sale. They may also send a screenshot showing fake proof of ticket ownership.

The ACCC said consumers should only buy tickets from an authorised ticket seller to ensure they purchase legitimate tickets, and to check whether there is an official ticket reseller for the event.

Consumers should also be careful to check out the ticket seller itself– even if they appear at the top of online search results. “Do not purchase from a website beginning with ‘http:’ and exercise caution when purchasing from a ‘https:’ site,” the watchdog said.