Like anything that gets popular on the internet, Fortnite has attracted the attention of hackers who have started to distribute malware in software claiming to give players a competitive advantage in the hit game.
The trend was first spotted by game streaming service Rainway, which allows users to stream games from their own gaming PC to browsers elsewhere, reports The Register.
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At its peak, the issues seemed to affect over 381,000 players. Rainway decided to do some first hand testing to find out what was going on, and discovered that literally every piece of Fortnite cheating software they downloaded contained some kind of malware.
These cheats ranged from everything including aim-bots (which artificially improve your aim in the game), to others that claimed to harvest V-bucks (the game’s internal currency).
Ruining the game
Fortnite’s popularity has made it a magnet for scams. We’ve also seen a huge influx of phishing scams claiming to offer people access to the as-yet unreleased Android version of the app.
When it comes to phishing scams, we have a lot of sympathy for anyone affected. It can be easy to forget to check that an email is from an official source, and wanting to get early access to an unreleased game is no crime.
But if you’re trying to cheat at the game… then we have much less sympathy for you. You’re making the game less fun for anyone you’re playing against, and to be honest you’re making it much less fun for yourself.
Cheaters have ruined countless online games over the years, and we hope Fortnite doesn’t become one of them. Thankfully, it’s making enough money for developer Epic Games (as much as $300 million in April 2018 alone) that the company should be able to afford to build in robust anti-cheating measures.
What horrible fate would you personally wish upon people who cheat at online games? Let us know @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
