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"Fortnite" has become so popular it is now a new playground for cyber-criminals, a new study has found.
The game, which has an online audience of more than 200 million players and monthly revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars, can also make the dubious claim of a burgeoning criminal ecosystem, according to research from cybersecurity firm Sixgill.
Fraudsters use stolen credit cards to purchase Fortnite-related goods and then unload those goods to unsuspecting buyers, receiving clean money in return.
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Citing a forum post from April 2018, Sixgill highlights the lengthy description of how to exploit the game for “carding” or using multiple credit cards to buy Fortnite "V-bucks" – an in-game currency.
Then, several others chimed in, claiming they were able to make in-game purchases using stolen credit cards.
The goal is to ultimately cash out. In some cases, bad actors make money by selling the "Fortnite accounts" on dark web forums and markets, Sixgill said in its report. For example, an individual on a well-known deep web hacking forum offering to sell their Fortnite account for $150. As a form of payment, the individual accepts PayPal, Bitcoin, and WebMoney.
“The vendor notes that the package comes complete with email and password login information, access to the original email associated with the account, and even payments receipts,” the firm said in the report.
“Once the threat actor is able to sell the account, they have effectively laundered the money,” Sixgill added.
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The market for Fortnite goods is booming. In the past 60 days, the top 50 "Fortnite" items on eBay grossed over $250,000, according to Sixgill.
“Similarly, deep and dark web forums and markets offer countless possibilities for threat actors to monetize Fornite goods,” Sixgill said in its report.
Fortnite did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
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