Streamers are tricking football fans into thinking FIFA 23 games are pirate World Cup streams

Thousands of fans have ruthlessly been tricked into thinking FIFA 23 streams are pirated World Cup games.

Fans have been caught out when watching a live stream for a World Cup match believing it to be the real game from Qatar.

They've stumbled across streams on YouTube, but the footage has turned out to be from popular video games FIFA 23 and eFootball (formerly Pro Evolution Soccer).

Streamers have managed to dupe people into thinking they're watching a stream for a World Cup match by dropping the quality of the video and adding Vietnamese commentary to add to its authenticity.

The Japan team celebrate scoring against Germany. Image: Alamy

Vietnamese news site VNExpress claim the scam has started since the tournament kicked off on November 20.

Huy Hoang, one of the many victims of the fake streams, thought he was watching Japan vs. Germany until he realised the content was from FIFA 23.

"It took me a few minutes to realize that the content was fake," he said.

"Not until I read the livestream comments and saw close-up shots of players' faces did I realize they were footage from the FIFA 23 video game."

The streams aired on YouTube have amassed thousands of viewers - as high as 40,000.

Ngoc Thanh, another person scammed by the streamers, explained: "You have to read carefully before you realized they were either simulations or commentaries on the matches."

It's proven to be lucrative scam as YouTube content creator Nguyen Huyen claims fake videos can generate 'hundreds of dollars' in revenue.

And streamers are tricking fans into thinking they are watching a real match by adding the word 'live' and red dots - a symbol to signify live content - to their videos.

Large and popular events are being targetted by streamers, according to an administrator of a group of digital content creators, Khiem Vu.

He said: "They exploit large and popular events to create live streams, even if those streams do not have the content viewers need."