PSA: Fake Battlefield 3 'beta keys' offered

by Alexander Sliwinski on May 9th 2011 3:00PM

Don't let the excitement of the upcoming Battlefield 3 beta cause a serious error in judgment. Community site BF3blog and Battlefield3Online point out that the "beta keys" on the site BF3nation are a scam -- also noting that the site's owners were also involved in a previous phishing scheme. EA has allegedly been trying to shut down the site, but has so far been unsuccessful.

When the Battlefield 3 beta is upon us, trust that you'll definitely hear about it from your buddies at Joystiq ... oh yeah, and the rest of the internet. It won't be something that'll fly under the radar. In the meantime, assume anything that involves BF3 beta keys is a scam. We've contacted EA for a direct quote on the subject.

Source: BF3blog, Battlefield3Online

Tags: battlefield-3, DICE, EA, Electronic-Arts, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, scam, xbox

Reader Comments (46)

so when you get the fake beta key what does it do what is the purpose ?

@Yisrael

accoring to the source

"BF3nation also ran a fake “free voucher towards BF3″ in order to harvest user emails."

so they want to "sell" or just spam crap to your e-mail. Also, chances are people who are still living in 1999 will sign up and use the same e-mail + password combo they use for things like Facebook.

i hope all the idiots who fall for this are also the idiots who are faulting Sony in every article. That way they learn that your information isn't safe anywhere, and most times its the person who willingly gives it up in FB or other scams.

You know those "check out how many profile hits you get" FB app invites you get from those moronic friends of yours on FB, yeah that a phishing scam too.

@PR0F3TA

You know, there are four articles on the front page about the PSN outage right now. Do you really need to drag that tired argument into unrelated articles?

@PR0F3TA
Nice. Because social engineering is exactly the same thing as what happened with Sony's network.

@Crayola Q Pants ESQ

If only someone at Sony hadn't installed that app for free Farmville cash.

OMG BATTLEFIELD 3 BETAS!?!?!?!?!?! I'M GOING THERE TO SIGN UP RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

@Ospov donf forget to give them your name, date of birth, card number and expiry date (not the security code mind) and you billing address...

@Al Capwn
Apparently someones already stolen mine.
*Rolleyes*

So I traded my SSN for a beta key to Duke Nukem Forever a year ago on craigslist. Can someone from Joystiq do some investigative journalism and look into what's taking so damn long for me to receive my key?

@(Unverified) Derp.

no where is safe

@eat it

HIDE YO KIDS

@eat it Have you considered buying a dog? Or perhaps several? Dog curtains give a +9 vs. Hackers.

@Faceless Troll

not if we have exploding vans

@PR0F3TA

Better hide your wives while you're at it!

@liquidsoap89
Hide yer husbands too coz they beta testin errybody out here

@eat it replying in an epic

@SonyLover4Life

oh i get it, you sign up using a name like SonyLover4Life, because of the recent Sony drama (duh), you write comments that will obviously be disagreed with, will prob write something stupid and very sarcastic on the next Sony article to try to mimic the pro Sony crowd.

you sly troll you. too bad its not 2001 and those tactics are played out. you're always welcome to try harder.

I still think this series peaked with 1942. Everyone of these Battlefield type games now have too powerful flying vehicles. 1942 got it right the first time. Worst being Vietnam. Those helicopters killed the game.

Don't even get me started on how bonked Warhawk is to flying vehicles.

I know somebody will say I should just learn how to fly better to make it fun but the game is stupid if it is no fun to be on the ground. Then everyone is lining up for planes and it really just becomes a flying game.

@FriedConsole

yeah but warhawk is a flying game

@eat it

Warhawk should have gotten rid of the option to be on foot then. Being on foot in Warhawk is like going after tanks with rocks.

@FriedConsole

Wait... fake Battlefield 3 beta keys. To lying planes in BF1942 vs. helicopters in Vietnam. To Warhawk?

I think we're missing a few transitions in that comparison...

@FriedConsole
Your mom is a flying game.

Isn't there always some kinda BS beta code generator on Youtube? Or do those work? lol

@xFenixKnightx
Fenix, I got that code you wanted. Can you send your CC over so I can pay for the email stamp to send it to you!?

@SonyLover4Life What's new about MW3? Its the same gameplay but different guns.

Guess everybody is waiting for some.... better keys

/awful joke

Once you click on it, it isn't even for a beta key; it's for a $100 Gamestop giftcard. False advertisement right there. They're just using a bogus initial link for ad/click revenue.

Clearly it's a fake. Look at that key for Christ's sake. The official BF3 beta keys will surely be encrusted in precious gems. Gold plated at least.

I got my Beta Key in Medal Of honor or Beta Invite Anyways in the PS3 version i bought yesterday.

I don't think there's any "email harvesting" or anything like that going on here.

Simply put, what BF3nation is running is an ascendmedia promotion, similar to cpalead incentiviced promotions, or various other "Free iPod" or whatever offers, CPA offers, etc.

Simply put, the BF3Nation owners get a small payout from ascendmedia every time someone completes an offer. The emails, etc aren't of interest to them, rather the $1.20 every time an offer is completed or whatever.

Enterbf3 is running the same offer, only incentivizing it even more it looks like. I played around with a similar offer on one of my sites (http://www.gears3beta.com), but removed it after a day because it seemed a bit shady to me.

@Vcize

ETA: Introducing the offer as involving a beta key is where they're going too far here. I have no idea why they're doing that rather than just advertising the offer as what it is, which would still get plenty of clickthroughs.

they have the same shit for Mortal Kombat classic costumes as much as i was tempted to download the code generator i had to resist knowing it's fake sucks -__-

@SonyLover4Life

I miss the days of old on Joystiq where men were men and trolls knew how to actually troll...

I've had a few messages about this over xboxlive, not sure if it was BF3nation but it was some website, instantly knew it was fake and ignored, reported and block em all ;o

@liquidsoap89
this guy makes me miss sprinkles

I purchased and returned Medal of honor back in sept when it came out. Did I give up my beta access cuz BF3 looks sick. I wanna grab that bad company Vietnam DLC, but I got Bad Company 2 for PS3. eff it. EA has good competition to COD with the Battlefield Series IMO. I hope no one is or has become a victim of that scams. Safe gaming you guys

@SonyLover4Life

Hey wait a minute, this guy made his account today and has nothing but troll comments on PS3 articles. Your a phoney! A big fat phoney!

what does it matter...sony have gave away my email details already

@liquidsoap89

...and when the members who decided to troll, had some intelligence, enough to be comical in their ways rather than simple tards.

@Roxas560
Oh damn, that made me laugh. He was a crazy fanboy.

So a blatantly illegal site can't be shut down legally, but a bunch of bored nerds can punch Sony in the knackers. If nothing, it proves how far the courts are lagging behind modern technology.

@PR0F3TA
OR, you sign up with the sony name, say someshit lame you know will get downvoted THEN come back with your real name with a well thought out response, get upvoted, AND LOOK LIKE THE HERO!!!

i'm on to you >.>

Hi,

The referenced source of your article is not the original source of the investigation. BF3Blog stole the content from our article (referenced below) and the work we did to uncover the scam.

http://www.battlefield3online.com/battlefield-3-news-announcements/423-ea-battlefield-3-infringement-notice-has-ulterior-motive.html

I would appreciate if you could amend your article to reflect this.

Regards
The Battlefield 3 Online Community

Sony fan siding with COD?
Oxymoron.

Battlefield 3

PSA: Fake Battlefield 3 'beta keys' offered

Reader Comments (46)

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:05PM Yisrael said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:09PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:06PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:51PM Colin said

Posted: May 9th 2011 5:34PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: May 9th 2011 7:08PM Colin said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:09PM Ospov said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:12PM Al Capwn said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:17PM Vampettrelli said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:18PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:13PM eat it said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:19PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:31PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:39PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:44PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 5:36PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: May 9th 2011 7:49PM acme64 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:13PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:13PM FriedConsole said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:27PM eat it said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:40PM FriedConsole said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:46PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: May 10th 2011 5:51PM Klearwater Killer said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:14PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 9th 2011 6:01PM Duke said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:14PM Jay Z said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:16PM oOWallaceOo said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:16PM GothamHunter said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:19PM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:20PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:22PM Vcize said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:25PM Vcize said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:25PM EDZiLLUH said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:42PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 3:46PM KillerC said

Posted: May 9th 2011 4:39PM Roxas560 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 4:47PM PSYCHOxKING said

Posted: May 9th 2011 4:49PM philmcfail said

Posted: May 9th 2011 5:14PM prodigy69 said

Posted: May 9th 2011 5:35PM DigitalEmporer said

Posted: May 9th 2011 5:53PM Duke said

Posted: May 9th 2011 7:41PM PoisonedAl said

Posted: May 9th 2011 7:47PM acme64 said

Posted: May 10th 2011 5:45AM BF3morgan said

Posted: May 10th 2011 4:22PM arucious said

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