Xbox Accounts Hacked By Chinese Site Selling Cheap In-Game Currency Says Microsoft

Tired of grinding in-game cash in FIFA, Grand Theft Auto V, Injustice 2 and countless other games with in-game currencies and microtransactions? Perhaps you've done an online search and discovered websites that promise to sell you in-game credits at steep discounts? Well, you best beware – according to Microsoft, at least one of these websites has a history of hacking Xbox accounts.

Microsoft has officially filed a complaint in federal court against Chinese-based company iGSKY. Their basic scam worked like this – when you buy cheap in-game credits or rare items on their the iGSKY.com website, they hack your Xbox account, then use your attached credit card to buy more in-game credits, which they sell to other victims, who in turn also get their accounts hacked and credit cards stolen. It's a vicious cycle, which made iGSKY a lot of money. According to Microsoft, they made $2 million in purchases using hacked accounts and their associated credit cards.

Microsoft set up a sting back in December, purchasing 11,000 FIFA points for $60 from the iGSKY website. Almost immediately, their account's password was changed and its attached credit card was used to buy 11,000 FIFA points for $127. Not exactly subtle! Microsoft has brought charges of fraud, racketeering, and CFAA violations against iGSKY and their parent company Gameest. The iGSKY website has since been taken down, but here's what it looked like until a day ago.

So yeah, a classic case of "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is." Microsoft has taken this one website down, but there's plenty of others pulling this same scam. If you're looking for cheap in-game credits, well, this isn't the way to get them. Paying your little brother or nephew two bucks an hour plus all the Pizza Bagels he can eat to grind credits is the right way to do things. What?

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[via The Verge]