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The Premier League and police are investigating a large-scale “leak” of players' mobile numbers, which has seen some of the game's biggest stars targeted by suspected fraudsters.
Mail Sport can reveal a stunning “league-wide” problem that has caused panic across top-flight clubs and the EFL, with some of the private numbers of a host of well-known names falling into the hands of scammers.
Player liaison departments across all competitions are working together and sharing details of tactics being used and apparent attempts to deceive their players.
It is understood that specialist police officers have also been called in to try to identify those involved.
Players have been warned about the situation and to ignore messages coming from unidentified numbers.
Mail Sport has been informed of a number of worrying cases where well-known stars have been attacked. In one case, an anonymous player was contacted by someone posing as the club's liaison officer to offer help finding accommodation, while in another, a trickster posed as a teammate of a new signing and asked for a ” initiation video”.
Premier League stars' phone numbers have been leaked en masse and they are being targeted by suspected scammers.
Tricksters have tried to sneak into players' WhatsApp groups by posing as a star who has a “new phone number”
Players are asked to share their personal details. It is not known how the numbers were obtained.
Another tactic used is to try to access WhatsApp groups used by players from various clubs. In each case, the cheater posed as a team member, sent a message to another player claiming to have lost their phone, and then asked to be added back to the team's group chat on their “new” number.
In many cases, there have been attempts to start a conversation with players before asking for personal data.
A list is being compiled of the numbers that have been used to contact players, as well as the techniques used by scammers so far.
So far it is not known how the numbers were obtained. The first cases are believed to have occurred at the beginning of the current season.
Premier League experts say they have shared relevant information with clubs to highlight the issue and have offered support where appropriate.
The EFL will write to clubs to inform them of the situation and urge them to warn their players to be careful if they receive unsolicited approaches.