Joystiq

Natural Selection 2 credit card scam sees developer out $30,000

David Hinkle — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST

Valve has deactivated 1,341 Steam keys for Natural Selection 2, a result of a scam that saw developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment out a total of $30,000. These 1,341 keys were purchased through the developer using stolen credit cards. The real credit card owners made chargeback claims on the fraudulent charges, and as a result the developer never received its money and was instead hit with the $30,000 fee to recoup the stolen funds.

It seems someone "purchased" keys through Unknown Worlds, sold them to third parties at a discount and then vanished once original credit card holders disputed the charges to Unknown Worlds. As a result, Unknown Worlds has temporarily closed its store, making Steam the only eligible place to purchase Natural Selection 2 at the moment.

As of today, anyone who purchased those illegitimate keys will find their game deactivated. Unknown Worlds suggests contacting the site you purchased the key from for a full refund - good luck with that.

Natural Selection 2 credit card scam sees developer out $30,000 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaming Kickstarter canceled after audience outs shady practices

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:30:00 EST

The Internet itself isn't an inherently evil or benign device; what gives it morality is the intention of its users, such as Seth Westfall. Westfall (or so he calls himself) began a Kickstarter for Mythic: The Story of Gods and Men, an RPG from Little Monster Productions to rival World of Warcraft and Skyrim, built by a team of former Activision Blizzard developers. The project asked for $80,000 and it had raised $5,000 until, three days ago, it was canceled. Little Monster didn't say why it was canned, but backers accused the whole thing of being fake.

Potential donors did some research before forking over their money to Mythic, and they declared that most of the artwork was stolen, Little Monster Productions didn't exist outside of Kickstarter's universe, pictures of its offices belonged to another company, and that even the rewards were word-for-word copied from The Banner Saga's Kickstarter. By the time the apparent scam spread to Reddit, Mythic was doomed.

Little Monster Productions responded to scam claims on the Mythic comments page: "It seems we have been subjected to false claims of ownership right to our concepts. The game itself is well in progress and is NOT a scam of any kind. Thank you for understanding. If you have any furthur questions please feel free to ask." The Little Monster Productions Kickstarter account has since been deleted.

As the $80,000 funding goal wasn't reached, those who contributed to the $5,000 donation pool won't lose any money, but we hope they did gain a bit of caution.

Gaming Kickstarter canceled after audience outs shady practices originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 May 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fake Pokemon Yellow ends up on iOS App Store

Jordan Mallory — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:30:00 EST

A fraudulent version of the Game Boy ~~Color~~ classic Pokemon Yellow has somehow made it through Apple's approval gauntlet and wound up on the App Store. Published by "Home of Anime" with Daniel Burford listed as the author, the "game" runs for $0.99 and has a one-and-a-half star rating after 1,352 reviews. According to said reviews, the app crashes after the title screen and cannot actually be played.

As if the simple existence of a Pokemon game on the App Store weren't enough of a red flag, the listing's screenshots aren't even from Pokemon Yellow, they're actually from Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green. The app's description also contains unattributed "press quotes" and a statement that "all trademarks and copyrights are owned by their respective owners," because everyone knows that admitting your copyright infringement absolves you of all responsibility, right? We've reached out to Apple for comment.

Editor's Note: My faulty, old-man brain confused the fact that Pokemon Yellow launched with a Poke-themed Game Boy Color, with it actually being a Game Boy Color game (which it was not). I've exploded an Electrode in penance.

Fake Pokemon Yellow ends up on iOS App Store originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Fake Battlefield 3 'beta keys' offered

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:00:00 EST

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.

PSA: Fake Battlefield 3 'beta keys' offered originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MS Point scam cost Microsoft over $1 million

David Hinkle — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:05:00 EST

That seemingly unintelligible string of numbers and letters attached to MS Point cards and Xbox Live Gold trials has an underlying code, a kind of system in place, a group of hackers found out yesterday. Using old claimed codes, this group was able to come up with an algorithm to generate new, valid code strings -- those who input the code got 160 MS Points and could refresh the site for more. Later, through a separate channel, hackers were able to exploit the algorithm to generate codes for a Halo: Reach Banshee Avatar prop.

This forum seems to be the origin point of the algorithm in question, where some users have claimed to have gathered hundreds of dollars in MS Points; current estimates put the total damage to Microsoft at over $1 million. Microsoft has since had the codes pulled, though we have to wonder if there's any other countermeasure the company could use to catch these individuals.

Honestly, we're a bit too busy staring at these awesome lightsabers we just got for our Avatar to worry about such things. Lightsabers that were, uh, totally acquired through legal, completely ethical means -- yeah, that's it.

MS Point scam cost Microsoft over $1 million originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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StarCraft 2 phishing scams looking to harvest Battle.net info

David Hinkle — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:11:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Completely unsurprising news now, as your usual thieves and unsavory types have crawled out from the woodwork to capitalize on the launch of the biggest PC title perhaps ever, StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. These "people" are sending out phishing emails in the hopes of getting folks' Battle.net account info, all under the guise of helping you get an activation key.

It comes with the territory: Battle.net and Blizzard's games are by no means impervious to these scams, nor have they been in the past, but Siliconera's example of one phishing email presents a pretty convincing ruse. Hopefully, in some small way, we can all help fewer people fall prey to this particular trick.

StarCraft 2 phishing scams looking to harvest Battle.net info originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows mobile game scams UK players out of cash

Xav de Matos — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:30:00 EST

A pirated version of an anti-terrorism game made for Windows mobile phones is at the center of a new scam wringing cash out of unwitting victims in the UK. Hidden code within the game silently dials phone numbers in the Antarctic, which can cost upwards of £4.25 ($6.19 US) per minute.

Although online con men and spam artists continue to pester our e-lives with promises of money, fame or other inappropriate guarantees, computer scams have an extremely low success rate. Researchers suggest that for every 350 million messages, spammers receive 28 responses, according to the BBC.

Since mobile phones lack the same protection found on computers they have become prime targets for grifters, seeing a threat growth of more than 200% in three years, suggests research by Kasperksy Labs. The penguin-calling version of the game was discovered in April but continues to claim victims as it has been added to multiple websites offering Windows mobile games.

[Image: Wallpaper-S]

Windows mobile game scams UK players out of cash originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 May 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Beware of StarCraft 2 beta scammers

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:45:00 EST

As you may have heard, the StarCraft II beta is now officially underway. Right now, beta invites are streaming to email inboxes everywhere. As a result, scammers are out in full force as well, hoping to phish some account details from unsuspecting Blizzard fans. In order to help you avoid this potential trick, our friends at WoW.com have provided a simple guide for determining if a beta invite is legitimate (the one shown above is a gag made by us, incidentally). Simply follow the steps below to see if your beta invite is the real deal:

Type battle.net into your browser (no typos) and it will go to the secure battle.net site appropriate to your region.
Enter your account info.
Under Manage My Games, choose Add or Upgrade a Game.
Enter the Beta Key provided in the email where it says Enter Game Key.
Press Add Game.

If the beta is properly added to your account, you're good to go. If the beta key doesn't work, or if the email directs you somewhere else to obtain a key, it's not a real invite. WoW.com advises users to forward any fake invites to hacks@blizzard.com.

PSA: Beware of StarCraft 2 beta scammers originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Steam did not just gift you Far Cry 2

David Hinkle — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:02:00 EST

Multiple members of Team Joystiq received a weird email this morning, which stated that Valve, the beloved developers behind PC's great platform, Steam, had gifted us Far Cry 2. With an email address originating from the Steam URL, you could imagine how (almost) convinced we were. Turns out it was all a hoax.

The activation link in the very convincing email (seriously, it looks legit!) goes to a third-party site. We can only imagine the malice awaiting us on the other side of that link, so if you were also the recipient of this email, know that IT'S A TRAP!

PSA: Steam did not just gift you Far Cry 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: The iPhone cannot play Xbox 360 software

Xav de Matos — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourself: the iPhone cannot play Xbox 360 games. We know, we were surprised too. Wait, no we weren't. That's why the latest YouTube video making the rounds is so hilariously stupid. YouTube vagabond onlywhenpissed claims a crack he created allows gamers to play Halo 3 on a jail-broken iPhone 3G with the aide of 1337pwn's Friends List application. All it'll take for you to learn this secret is a few measly MS Points.

The scammer attempts to showcase his wizardry by playing the game on his iPhone in the video found after the jump. However, even those who require the assistance of a seeing eye dog can tell it's just a video of Halo 3 footage. The truth is the iPhone just doesn't have the horsepower to run any Xbox 360 software. So, you'd have about as much luck getting this trick to work by placing a Halo 3 disc on your pinkie while spinning it and making aircraft noises. Don't be a sucker. Hold onto your points.

Continue reading PSA: The iPhone cannot play Xbox 360 software

PSA: The iPhone cannot play Xbox 360 software originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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$35 PS3 site is (obviously) too good to be true

Andrew Yoon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

For some reason, some people are quick to fall into deals that are simply too good to be true. PS3 owners were recently hit by a weak "Home Beta Injector" scam, which attempted to steal PSN information from hapless victims. Another scheme has been investigated by the LA Times: a ring of sites that are offering PS3s for cheap. How cheap? How's $35?

Of course that's too good to be true, you must be thinking. However, the site's managed to snag the credit cards of a few victims already. "I was tricked," the ironically named hatesbeingrippedoff wrote on a forum on 419Legal.org. "This is a total fraud and I hope we can get a class action lawsuit." "Although it's just $35, that doesn't mean he's not going to use all the credit card information he's acquired so far for his dirty little self," wrote a user posting under the name NessaLee.

The scam promises a refurbished PS3 system for only $35, a savings of over $300. How does such a shady site pull off such a great deal? "We get paid through our network of sponsors for every survey you fill out. This gives us the purchasing power necessary to pass these large discounts on to you." Yeah, sure thing.

[Via PlayStation Forums]

$35 PS3 site is (obviously) too good to be true originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just say 'no' to Home Beta Injector scam

Randy Nelson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Defender of the PS3 nation, PS3 Fanboy, has put the kibosh on a nasty little scam capitalizing on PS3 fans desire to get into the latest wave of the PlayStation Home beta. Sony's ninja-like lawyers are already stealthily shutting down the "PlayStation Home Beta Injector Blog," which promised visitors access to the beta ... if they'd turn over their PSN account names and passwords.

Sound shady? Oh yeah. Since doing so would, oh, give the site's proprietors complete access to your PSN account, including your credit card. If you ran across the scam and happened to fall for it, Sony suggests contacting its customer support for help with reclaiming your account.

Just say 'no' to Home Beta Injector scam originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beware of the Home Beta Injector scam

Andrew Yoon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

Click to enlarge image.

We want to nip this one before it becomes a widespread problem. A program calling itself the "Home Beta Injector" will supposedly generate a redemption code for the Home beta by simply inputting a valid PSN e-mail address and password.

Sound too good to be true? Of course it is. The PlayStation team will NEVER ask for your password. Your password isn't used to generate codes for use on the PLAYSTATION Store. Instead, giving up your password means you're granting a stranger total access to your account, personal information and credit card. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM.

If you've already given away your information, we recommend you contact PlayStation support. SCEA Legal is already trying to make sure this scam doesn't spread any further.

Beware of the Home Beta Injector scam originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Singapore shop tricks woman into paying $1000 for PSP

Andrew Yoon — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

Take this following story as a lesson on why you should be an educated shopper and do research before you head into a store. A 41 year old Singaporean woman went shopping for a new PSP at a Lucky Plaza shop. She met a courteous and helpful assistant who directed her to a Black PSP system. There are so many capabilities of the PSP, but he explained that with a "software upgrade," it can do much more, such as surf the Internet and play games for free. Fifteen minutes later, the clerk came back with a massive bill: $3500.

"Nicole," the unfortunate victim in this scam, refused to buy a system that cost as much as a laptop. However, the clerk said that they had already paid for the "costly" licenses. She asked why other shops only charged a few hundred dollars for the system ($300 according to the original article) and the clerk claimed the licenses "were not original."

After some haggling, she was able to get the cost down to $2600. Later, her brother informed her that she had essentially been robbed. She went back to the store and demanded a refund -- but she agreed to pay $1000. When complaining to the Consumers Association of Singapore, she was denied any further help because she had already agreed to pay the store.

Singapore shop tricks woman into paying $1000 for PSP originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alert! Microsoft Points scam sweeps Xbox Live

Xav de Matos — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: News, Xbox Live

While every major company in the world attempts to bang into your head that they will never ask for your account information sometimes people don't listen.

Unfortunately a scam, which appears to have been around for some time, promises free Microsoft points when you log into your .net Passport account. This site, and any site that promises the same, is 100% fake and will only lead to a headache like the reader who sent this in who had 5000 MS points purchased with his credit card.

We know this isn't the first, nor will it be the last, site to attempt to scam you but we hope to echo what you all should already know.

We won't link the site itself, for fear of spreading the scam, but we would like to remind you of a few key things.

Microsoft will only give points away during official contests that ALWAYS link directly back to a Microsoft site and those contests are always widely reported on X3F, Joystiq and other gaming sites
Never, no matter what you're promised, log into your account unless on officially sanctioned Xbox sites (Xbox.com, Bungie.net, ForzaMotorsport.net, etc.)
Never give away your user name and password to anyone and remember Microsoft will never ask for this information
Never give away your account details, including credit card information and mailing address

Do not get caught in a scam, who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes if you do.

Check out our visual guide to spotting fake Microsoft sites used in similar scams. This guide isn't foolproof however, so just steer clear from anything that promises anything!

Alert! Microsoft Points scam sweeps Xbox Live originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 17 May 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dreamcast.com converted into phishing scam, Sega warns

James Ransom-Wiley — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:05:00 EST

Filed under: Hacks, Online

"Do you still own a Dreamcast?" asks dreamcast.com. By all appearances, the supposed official site of Sega's cherished console has received a legitimate update, exciting loyalists that have been anticipating the system's 10-year anniversary later this year. By clicking on the question, visitors are prompted to accept a user agreement for an @user.dreamcast.com email account (apparently tied to Gmail). Applicants must supply a console serial number, email address, and password before being granted a [serial number]@dreamcast.com Gmail address.

The thing is ... Sega no longer owns dreamcast.com. Oh dear. While we have yet to obtain an English language statement from Sega, Japanese news site Mainichi has confirmed that dreamcast.com is no longer owned by Sega and is using the official Dreamcast and company logos illegally. Additionally, the current dreamcast.com domain registration information is also fraudulent. Engadget Japanese reached out to Sega for further clarification, and a representative stated that Sega is considering "appropriate measures." As we wait for further information, please (please!) do not submit any personal information to dreamcast.com. You've been warned.

Read - Mainichi.jp [Japanese]

Dreamcast.com converted into phishing scam, Sega warns originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rent-to-own a Wii for almost 4 times its worth

David Hinkle — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

The Consumerist has a very interesting story about a ~~complete ripoff scam~~ store promotion from Kelly's. Apparently, they lease out Wii consoles, allowing you to pay off the thing in monthly payments of only $79.99. This means that after 12 months, when everything is said and done and you now own your Wii console, you'll have paid a whopping $948.

Of course, if something were to happen a couple months in and you couldn't make your payment, they'll take back the console and you'll be out a boatload of cash. That must be the convenience of lease-to-own ...

Rent-to-own a Wii for almost 4 times its worth originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-mail phishers targeting Xbox Live accounts

Kyle Orland — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:23:00 EST

Filed under: Hacks, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

Stealing your bank account or credit card information is one thing, but now e-mail phishers are going after something truly important: Your Xbox Live account. Xbox.com forum-goer Whagi reports on an e-mail he received, purportedly from Xbox Support, announcing new features on his Xbox Live account. The e-mail links to a supposed Microsoft passport login page that's actually a phishing site designed to capture your login information.

The problem goes deeper than your Xbox -- if you use your Passport account for other Microsoft services, the phishers could have access to a lot of sensitive information. The same e-mail has reportedly been received by other users in the U.S. and U.K.

It probably goes without saying, but if you get a similar e-mail, delete it immediately. If you accidentally use the link, change your password immediately. And don't trust random e-mails to notify you about new Xbox Live updates -- that's what we're here for, after all.

[Update: Microsoft has acknowledged the scam and reportedly taken action.]

E-mail phishers targeting Xbox Live accounts originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beware the game funding credit trap

Kyle Orland — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:25:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

As game journalists, we here at Joystiq get a lot of press releases. As Americans over the age of 18, we get a lot of credit card offers disguised as once-in-a-lifetime deals. Rarely do we get both at the same time.

Enter PeachDirect, a direct marketer that today issued a press release pimping out the PS3 for the relatively affordable price of $20 per month. "This is the machine that everyone wants, and for such a low monthly price, it has never been so affordable," says PeachDirect Executive VP Gary Bale.

So affordable? Not really. First of all, PeachDirect inflates the price of the 60 GB model to $649, and that's before the $49 shipping charge. So, already, you're $99 in the hole compared to going to your local game shop. A small price to pay for such a flexible payment structure, right? Not really. That generous $20/month plan comes with 22.98 percent APR strings attached, meaning it would take 55 months and over $466 in interest to pay off that PS3 at the minimum monthly rate.

We don't mean to pick on the PS3 here -- PeachDirect also offers the Xbox 360 and PSP at similarly "affordable" rates. The point is, no game system is worth going into debt over. Best to save up that $20 a month and endure the wait with a clean conscience and credit rating.

Beware the game funding credit trap originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real crimes in virtual worlds

Kyle Orland — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Online, RPGs, MMO

Is it a crime to bilk people out of money in a ponzi scheme? Sure. Is it also a crime to bilk people out of 700 billion ISK of virtual cash using a similar scheme in massively multiplayer game EVE Online? That's the question discussed in a recent article on Gamers With Jobs.

The scheme, which uses money from new investors to pay off initial backers before cutting and running, is pretty apparently against EVE's terms of service, which prohibits "obtaining goods from other players through misinformation, confusion, pressure or by taking advantage of basic trust." But the author at GWJ argues that the virtual money can be converted to real game-time cards with a value of $81,667, making the crime a very real one. What's more, the ill-gotten gains could be converted into cash through unofficial channels, and might well be taxable by the IRS.

It may be hard to think that in-game money can be subject to real-world laws, but when people can make their living trading in virtual goods, the wall between real and virtual laws begins to break down. Should financial doings inside MMOs be regulated by the government, or should the feds stay out of the virtual realm?

Real crimes in virtual worlds originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get revenge on a 360 Ebay scammer: Call his mom

Ken Weeks — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fan stuff

Moms really do know best. They also get results. Here's a satisfying tale from a guy who bought a used 360 on Ebay for $315 and got burned. He does a little detective work and tracks the non-shipping seller down to some town in Ohio, then calls him up only to get the phone slammed in his face. So who does he call next? The cops? Nah, he dials the dude's Mom and rats him out. Minutes later he has a refund, an apology and the pleasure of posting the most humiliating Ebay feedback ever. As reader Jamaicanbwoydre notes: Vigilante justice rules -- especially when Mom is playing the Charles Bronson role.

Get revenge on a 360 Ebay scammer: Call his mom originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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