Wherever gamers go, scammers will follow -- and that especially goes for the immensely popular survival and battle royale game Fortnite.
Indeed, researchers at social media and digital protection company ZeroFOX reported yesterday that they generated 53,000 alerts related to Fortnite scams in one month alone, from early September to early October. Many of these scams falsely promise victims free or discounted “V-Bucks,” an in-game currency that players can use to buy various items to enhance gameplay.
Although a whopping 86 percent of these alerts stemmed from malicious social media activity, the ZeroFOX "Alpha Team" also observed scams originating from web domains and YouTube as well. The researchers also warned of various fake Fortnite Android apps, which capitalize on the fact that there actually is no official Android version of Fortnite available in the Google Store.
According to a company blog post, common social media-based Fortnite scams include “V-Buck Generators” websites that ask potential victims for their Fortnite usernames and passwords, as well as personal information including credit card numbers. Through ZeroFOX’s research, we’ve identified over 4,770 live domains related to these kinds of scams – and the number continues to grow," the blog post states.
The researchers also found more than 1,390 YouTube videos that purport to show views how to earn V-Bucks, but actually trick them into giving away their personal information.
