DIGITAL CASH CON FOR FIFA FANS
Gamers big losers in £200m online money scams
FRAUDSTERS are fleecing FIFA gamers out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Cold-callers are offering cryptocurrency at cheap rates so players can buy virtual stars to boost their teams.
Gamers are handing over large sums of money to the scammers – who then disappear with their cash.
The Daily Star Sunday can also reveal the company behind FIFA, EA Sports, is being targeted by hackers who steal encrypted funds online and sell them on the black market.
A source at the gaming giant said it was hit by more than £200million in scams last year alone.
The crimewave is down to the explosion in the use of cryptocurrency – digital money which allows anonymous transactions to be made online. The original online currency, Bitcoin, has jumped in value by more than 260%.
There are now more than a hundred different types of cryptocurrency. But crooks are cashing in by pretending to create their own.
One FIFA 2017 gamer from London said: “I bought 7.5m coins for £70 so I could buy players on the ultimate team mode.
“I paid the money by PayPal but never got the coins. I know loads of lads who’ve done exactly the same thinking they’re gonna get a good deal.
“Sometimes it’s online but some people I know are now just getting cold-called with offers of cryptocurrency.”
In August, police in London shut down a firm selling fake cryptocurrency through coldcalling.
Experts warn that cryptocurrency fraud is now one of biggest threats to online gamers and firms.
Our source added: “My advice for FIFA players who want to buy cryptocurrency is to make sure it’s bought on a regulated site. If an offer is too good to be true then it invariably is.”