A fake screen alert on a website with an address similar to the official sites of the Tokyo Olympics urges users to buy bogus security software. (Provided by Trend Micro Inc.)

The Internet is teeming with bogus 2020 Tokyo Olympics websites that claim to have ties to the sports extravaganza, an investigation by The Asahi Shimbun and major information security firm Trend Micro Inc. shows.

Illicit websites that could be used to conduct fraud were also discovered, prompting Trend Micro to advise the public to exercise caution when searching online for information related to the Games.

According to the organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics, the official addresses for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games are “tokyo2020.org” and “tokyo2020.jp.”

They take users to the same site.

The official site for selling Games merchandise is “tokyo2020shop.jp.”

However, multiple unrelated sites turn up online that combine words including “tokyo2020.” Trend Micro confirmed it found at least two addresses tied to illicit websites.

When one of them was accessed, a screen appeared demanding the user buy fake security software, accompanied by phony warning messages such as “system alert” or “install the newest software.”

Trend Micro official Katsuyuki Okamoto said the sites were possibly set up to dupe people into thinking they are connected to websites related to the Tokyo Olympics.

Okamoto said people should think twice before clicking results that appear after they search the Internet using keywords like “Tokyo Olympics.”

“It's important to confirm the addresses to make sure if the site is legitimate or a fake one,” he said.

Okamoto added that antivirus software that blocks illicit sites is effective as well in protecting users from becoming victims of scammers.

When a reporter accessed addresses that combined words like “tokyo2020,” “olympic,” or “japan,” sites unrelated to the Olympics often appeared such as international marriage broker’s sites and sexually explicit sites.

In some cases, people seem to have registered sites just to sell them. Last December, the reporter had contact with a man who registered two addresses that combined Olympic-related words. The man, who identified himself as “Turk,” tried to sell them to the reporter, saying, “I hope I can sell at a high price. How about giving me $600 (66,000 yen)?”

(This article was written by Tatsuya Sudo, a senior staff writer, and Chihiro Ara.)