Hackers are making a fortune selling stolen Fortnite accounts

[midian182]

In a nutshell: The dark web is filled with stolen information for sale, from personal details to credit card numbers to login credentials. In the case of the latter, it's not just banking sites that criminals want to access—stolen video game accounts is a black market that now generates over $1 billion per year, a large portion of which comes from Fortnite logins.

A report from Night Lion Security titled "The Fortnite Underground Cybercrime Economy" reveals that hackers are using automated cracking tools that can probe 500 Fortnite accounts per second. The systems check whether credentials from previous leaks unrelated to the game will work with Fortnite. Despite warnings not to, millions of people still reuse the same passwords across multiple sites and services.

Some Fortnite accounts have valuable skins, and these accounts sell for between $200 and $250 each on average, according to Vinny Troia, Founder, Chief Security Research and Strategy at Night Lion Security (via Bloomberg News). Many of the more valuable accounts can go for thousands of dollars.

"They can't keep up with demand for certain accounts," Troia said. "They resell it to people wanting to play the game with that account. Maybe somebody just doesn't want to spend 100 hours of effort to get there."

Epic Games says selling Fortnite accounts is a violation of its Terms of Service, and it attempts to return them to the owners. The company uses protections including captcha, IP reputation, machine learning, and proprietary technology to block stolen accounts, but the hackers use tricks to bypass these systems; one said he pays more than $10,000 each month for proxy rotation services, and that's on top of the Fortnite checker tools that can cost $2,000 per month for a licence. It's an expensive but often lucrative profession, with some criminals making $25,000 per week.

A shop selling stolen Fortnite accounts

The stolen accounts are sold in batches on services such as Telegram and Discord. These are bought by owners of disreputable websites, who sell them on to consumers. Troia said one seller makes $20,000 per day selling Fortnite accounts.

Almost three-quarters of the market's $1 billion sales come from four titles: Fortnite, Roblox, RuneScape, and Minecraft, all of which have seen their player numbers surge during the lockdown.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/86567-hackers-making-fortune-selling-stolen-fortnite-accounts.html

 

[Adhmuz]

I don't get it, the game is free to play, are people that mentally unstable they need to have BS cosmetics to enjoy the game and want to use stolen account with them? If you're that crazed for cosmetic BS that you'll pay for a stolen account why not just buy them yourself using a new free account?

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I don't get it, the game is free to play, are people that mentally unstable they need to have BS cosmetics to enjoy the game and want to use stolen account with them? If you're that crazed for cosmetic BS that you'll pay for a stolen account why not just buy them yourself using a new free account?

Same reason young people (and some older) cannot get enough of the loot boxes in games. They need the best or most unique item to show how "l33t" they are - yes, even if the items are only cosmetic. I played a little PUBG when it released on the PC and I got some "rare" shirt that I was able to sell for $20 on the Steam Store. People will pay stupid money for these things.

Sadly, a lot of people are lazy these days. They'll bypass any kind of work if it's possible just to get ahead of everyone else.

 

[franticfrosty]

Collectors spend billions per year collectively, whys it so hard to believe there aint no collectors in-game?

I can see someone spending that much and making that much, Its a drop in the bucket to packsellers on mobile games though, able to sell $99 game packs etc for 80% less than their actual value with currency manipulation lol

 

[Bamda]

“A fool and his money are soon parted” LOL!

 

[Q Wales]

I don't get it, the game is free to play, are people that mentally unstable they need to have BS cosmetics to enjoy the game and want to use stolen account with them? If you're that crazed for cosmetic BS that you'll pay for a stolen account why not just buy them yourself using a new free account?

Just to add that many outfits only sell one time for a short period and many of the players, like my son, know if they are up against a season 1 player, for example, when they see the outfit and just knowing that can mean they know they have little chance in a battle.

My 11 year old daughter spends her pocket money on sweets and my 8 year old son spends his on Fortnite outfits. I know which one I prefer them spending on.