People playing the world’s most popular game are being preyed on by criminals trying to extort money out of them, Britain’s Police have warned.
The UK police’s fraud unit has warned that scammers are using Fortnite to trick young players into handing over their parents’ bank details. The scam works by convincing players to leave the game and enter a third party website, where they can buy “free” online currency which they can use in the game to buy items like weapons and clothes. To “verify their account is real” players are asked to hand over bank details.
Parents are now being urged to be vigilant in the run-up to Christmas and keep an eye on what their children are doing online.
Chief Inspector Paul Carroll, of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, said: “Clearly you expect there to be more purchases of Fortnite over the Christmas period, it’s the in thing for gamers. So, it is certainly a time for parents to be vigilant and get their knowledge up to speed of what it entails.
“You have always got to question requests for personal financial information.”
Many of the frauds have come from Fortnite, one took the form of tricking children on social media promising free ways to get Fortnite’s in-game currency, V-Bucks.
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