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Businesses The Almighty Buck Games Technology

The 'Fortnite' Economy Now Has Its Own Black Market (qz.com) 31

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Fortnite's in-game currency, V-bucks, are now being used to launder money from stolen credit cards, according to a report by The Independent and cybersecurity firm Sixgill. From a report: Here's how it works: After a hacker obtains someone else's credit card information, they make a Fortnite account and use the card to buy V-bucks which are used in the game to purchase cosmetic upgrades and new ways your character can dance. Once the account is loaded up with V-bucks, it is then sold through a legitimate vendor like eBay, or on the dark web. V-bucks cost about $10 for 1,000 when you buy them in the game or from authorized online stores. But these accounts are sold at rates low enough that it ends up being much cheaper to buy V-bucks that way.
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The 'Fortnite' Economy Now Has Its Own Black Market More

The 'Fortnite' Economy Now Has Its Own Black Market

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  • That's new? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday January 21, 2019 @05:04PM (#57998240)

    Been the staple of a couple MMOs already for years. Or is it a story because Fortnite?

    • Exactly.

      Popular game with MTX has black market. News at 10, Film at 11.

      Go figure.

    • "Been the staple of a couple MMOs already for years. Or is it a story because Fortnite?"

      But there you got guns, spaceships or armor.
      Here you can buy a dance variant for your avatar.(sic)

      • Re:That's new? (Score:4, Funny)

        by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday January 21, 2019 @07:20PM (#57998844)

        If I went back 20 years and told people that there will be a game where you can spend real, hard earned cash so your figure on the screen dances in a different way, and that the game makes millions, people would probably take it as a cue that I cannot really travel through time and are just making completely and utterly nonsensical bullshit up.

      • A new dance might have come in handy if CCP had ever implemented "Walking in Station / Incarna", in Eve:Online. A player could set their avatar up on a stage in a bar and do exotic dancing for spare change.

    • That's how news works. Fortnite is new. And something old is being done with the new thing. That new combination makes it new.

      Maybe you, like every other Slashdotter it seems, are confusing "new" with "never happened before" or "not conceivable before".
    • You are absolutely right, but each generation always thinks they invited everything for the first time. "NO ONE HAS FELT LOVE LIKE I DO NOW" sorta thing. It's like the changes of the seasons. I take some comfort in it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ranbot ( 2648297 )

      Been the staple of a couple MMOs already for years. Or is it a story because Fortnite?

      Agreed, but to expand on that... it becomes news [again] because Fortnite is so much larger than previous MMOs and is part of mainstream culture in a way that previous MMOs never were. For millions of average adults Fortnite is a new concept they are trying to wrap their mind around; and idea that Fortnite can be more than just a harmless game their kids play is news for them [albeit, not "news for nerds"].

  • I suppose I should see what all the fuss is about.

  • had a massive black market with Chinese farmers and people accounts getting hacked and items distributed by being sold on ebay and game sites.

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