Grand Theft Auto 5 is the hottest game at the moment and a lot of gamers wants to get them easily through downloading cracks on file sharing sites. A word of caution, hackers and fraudsters are using this game to lure gamers into downloading malware, a computer security company Bitdefender warned.
The company said that these cyber-fraudsters offers fake serials and beta versions of the game to lure GTA V fans.
"The fake websites are disseminated worldwide, and some are hosted on Russian domains. Considering the global interest for the game, malware writers and fraudsters crafted the baits in English, then redirected gamers to dubious websites that identified their IP and delivered the scam in their native language," Bitdefender's Bianca Stanescu said in a blog.
Bianca also said that for the scam to appear legitimate, cyber-criminals take advantage of the reputation of antivirus companies and pretend to offer a free security scan. Then when the user clicked the download button, they were redirected to the bogus antivirus scan that will show a proof that the website is secure. Of course, the scan will only take a couple of seconds and no antivirus company listed finds any problem.
After the fake antivirus scan, the user will be reidrected to “Complete a short survey to get GTA 5 serial” page. She also said that users may sense something is wrong since the bogus scan uses the old Bitdefender logo.
Bianca also noted other scammy websites that propose downloads for Facebook customization and Starbucks gift cards. The scam will ask user to give away their personal information, that may lead to identity theft. They may also be subscribed to pay for services they didn’t want.
In other cases, she said the file downloaded by the victim will be malicious and will grab personal information, including Facebook credentials.
Her post also advised gamers to disregard GTA copies “accidentally” leaked on the Internet, as they are "probably fake, leading to fraudulent or malicious websites."
"Bitdefender recommends gamers keep their security solution and other software updated to avoid malware infections, phishing and fraud," she added.
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