Black Friday WARNING over ‘Fifa points’ scam that leaves you with ‘nothing’
Anonymous Twitter accounts are offering FIFA players free points in recognition of Black Friday, but EA warns that it's against its rules to take FIFA Points from unauthorised distributors
SCAMMERS are offering to give away FIFA Points as part of online 'Black Friday' deals, with gamers being asked to follow social media accounts, retweet posts or pay real money in exchange for rewards.
However, the giveaways are actually scams, and follow in the footsteps of similar frauds involving such in-game currencies as Fortnite's V-Bucks.
Warning of the dangers of such Black Friday-related scams, 's Jack Baylor advises players of FIFA 19 and other games to be very suspicious when online sites and accounts offer 'free' points or virtual currency.
"Avoid 'too good to be true' resellers on auction sites such as eBay, especially for computer games or related products such as 'FIFA Points'," the cybersecurity researcher says.
"People often put up faked game codes claiming large discounts compared to buying directly from the game manufacturer or the likes of reputable markets such as Steam, Microsoft Store (Xbox1) or PlayStation Store (PS4). Often consumers are left out of pocket with nothing more than a nonsense string of letters and numbers to show for it."
And because it's Black Friday, there are numerous examples on Twitter and elsewhere of accounts offering 'free' FIFA Points, although all of these offers should be viewed with extreme suspicion.
On its website, FIFA 19 publisher/developer EA warns that receiving FIFA Points from unauthorised distributors is "", meaning that gamers risk having their EA Accounts suspended if they take the plunge with any supposed giveaway.
Added to this, gamers also risk giving away sensitive info that may be later used against them, possibly to steal money from their bank accounts.
This is why it's always best to get FIFA Points through the proper channels, such as buying them from the official Fifa Ultimate Team Store, or from the official PlayStation and Microsoft stores.
And players should also be on the lookout for Black Friday scams targeting other video games, such as Fortnite.
For instance, Twitter is also currently home to a number of these scams, which promise free 'V-Bucks,' the in-game currency Fortnite players can use to buy new skins and emotes in the massively popular online shooting game.
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And they should also be wary of scams not related to Black Friday, since these are already "running rampant" as things stand, according to a recent report from cybersecurity firm ZeroFOX.
Have you fallen foul of a FIFA 19 or Fortnite scam? Let us know in the comments.
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