Although the game itself is free, Fortnite also features virtual coins that can be used to purchase various in-game items. Scammers use stolen credit cards to buy V-bucks and then sell them for good rates to legitimate players. Just as expected, these transactions are being done via the Dark Web.
Fortnite is a very popular video game that is currently being enjoyed by at least 200 million players, both children and adults. Sadly, such popularity also comes with dark parts. In this case, we are talking about online criminals who use the game as a platform for money laundering.
According to an investigation by The Independent, this is who the aforementioned criminals operate: "Stolen credit card details are being used to purchase V-bucks – the virtual currency used to buy items in the game – from the official Fortnite store. By selling V-bucks at a discounted rate to players, the criminals are effectively able to “clean” the money."
Additional research by cybersecurity firm Sixgill revealed that the money laundering operations are being conducted worldwide in multiple languages. These languages are Chinese, Arabic, English, Russian, and Spanish. For now, it is still unclear how large is this operation, but Sixgill discovered that Fortnite items grossed over US$250,000 in a 60-day period last year on eBay alone. Obviously, those involved in this operation are also using other virtual stores to sell their dirty V-bucks.
Back in October, Malwarebytes discovered multiple data-stealing malware and cryptocurrency-stealing malicious code in attacks targeted at Fortnite gamers. During the same month, ZeroFOX came up with no less than 53,000 alerts for Fortnite-related scam attempts.
Codrut Nistor - Senior Tech Writer - 6324 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013
In my early school days, I hated writing and having to make up stories. A decade later, I started to enjoy it. Since then, I published a few offline articles and then I moved to the online space, where I contributed to major websites that are still present online as of 2021 such as Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, but I also wrote for multiple blogs that have disappeared over the years. I've been riding with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I am not planning to leave it anytime soon. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but also smartphones, streaming services, and digital art.
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