Losing millions of dong by buying game accounts, experts warn

(Dan Tri) - Spending from a few hundred to tens of millions of dong to buy a game account, many players fall into a scam trap, the seller turns their back on the transaction.

Spend millions in exchange for an account that cannot be used

Spending nearly 8 million VND to buy a game account in which the previous owner invested a lot of time, effort and money, Xuan Hoang, a player of the game Hero Forbidden Land, thinks he has invested a worthy amount.

However, the joy did not last long when after only a period of use, Hoang continuously discovered abnormalities on his account.

"The first time, when I saw someone logging into my account, I texted them to ask, but they denied that it was unrelated," Hoang recounted.

The next time, when the signs became increasingly clear, Hoang continued to contact but received no response.

Hoang shared: "I still saw that person active on social networks but ignored my messages. A short time later, they completely blocked contact. That's when I realized the money I spent was like going down the drain."

Hoang was initially hesitant when he discovered that the game account was still linked to the old Facebook owner. Therefore, Hoang discussed removing the link to change the password.

In response to the above suggestion, the seller said they were not the Facebook account owner so they could not do it. The seller even recorded a video to prove that he had no Facebook account that matched the linked account.

"I checked quite carefully. This person has been playing for a long time and is known to many people in the community. They also said they needed money so they quit the game. In particular, the way he spoke was kind, he was working at a big hospital, and had a family, so I decided to buy it," Hoang said.

All of those factors, along with the value of the account, made Hoang decide to deposit money. However, now the old owner constantly logs back in, making him feel insecure, always worried that control of the account could be taken back at any time.

Hoang also raised the question that the other Facebook account actually belonged to the seller, but they hid it so as not to have to completely hand it over.

Up to now, he is helpless as he feels like he is renting an account rather than actually owning it.

Not only facing risks from accounts with linked information, many players also said they lost access due to purchasing accounts with unclear origins.

A typical case is Anh Duc, a player of the game Lien Quan Mobile, who once bought three game accounts with a total value of 6 million VND.

According to Duc, these are all accounts for sale at more attractive prices than the general market but possess many rare items and high rankings.

Even though he has to spend a large amount of money, he still thinks that this price is reasonable because if he plays and deposits money himself to own the same amount of items, the cost and effort could be much higher.

Believing he had found a "bargain", Duc was quickly attracted and proactively contacted the transaction as soon as he saw the sale post.

But after only about two weeks, all purchased accounts had their passwords changed one by one.

Duc said those accounts may have been used by the seller using fraudulent tricks to appropriate them from others, so the account he bought is actually in dispute with the previous owner.

Then, they sell it at a cheap price with attractive offers like three times cheaper than the market price.

Therefore, even though buyers may know that these accounts are not genuine and have no clear commitments, they still take risks.

When he discovered he had lost access, he planned to contact the sellers for support, but when he checked, he found that all previous communication channels were blocked.

Some seller accounts no longer even exist, so Duc cannot save any messages as evidence to denounce and warn the player community.

Not only the above cases, many other players also reported that after transferring money to make a purchase, the seller immediately blocked the message and quickly "disappeared".

If you type in keywords related to buying and selling game accounts on social networks, users can easily find a series of groups and posts selling accounts.

In addition to successful transactions, the number of articles reporting fraud is also increasing.

Just spend a few minutes following game groups, it's not difficult to come across content with titles like "nickname selling scam", "password changed", "scam", "warning for friends".

There are even groups created just to expose cases of fraud. It was noted in a few posts that the person being accused was an administrator or member with an executive role in quite large player groups.

Not only buyers, many sellers have also become victims of scams during the transaction process.

A common trick is for the subject to pretend to be a buyer, create trust, and then ask the seller to provide login information to check the account before payment.

After gaining access, they continue to offer to change security information, and use promises and high purchase prices to lure the victim into giving full control of the account.

Quang Tuan, a player of the game Lien Quan Mobile, said he contacted an account buyer for 4.5 million VND. Initially, the buyer promised to transfer money after completing verification steps and changing security information.

However, once Tuan handed over full control of the account, the buyer continuously delayed payment for many different reasons.

At the time of the payment appointment, the buyer suddenly presented unconvincing evidence and accused Tuan of secretly taking back his account.

The two parties then had an argument, the transaction broke down, no payment was made, and the account was not recovered. As a result, the buyer completely blocked messages from Tuan and Tuan also lost the game account that had invested a lot of time and money.

Notably, there are also cases of intermediary transactions, meaning there is a third party supporting the purchase and sale. Some victims said it was only when they were defrauded that they realized that a third party with the seller or buyer colluded to commit the fraud.

Talking to Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Ngo Minh Hieu (Hieu PC), a cybersecurity expert, said that transactions of buying and selling game accounts and virtual items have long become an environment with many potential risks of fraud because they are largely based on trust between individuals.

"Buying and selling of game accounts mainly takes place in closed groups, without contracts, without clear guarantees," Mr. Hieu emphasized.

The expert said that common tricks today include impersonating a reputable seller, an intermediary trader, and using account images or items that are not yours to offer for sale.

Some people also sell the same account to many people or after completing the transaction will use the previously linked email and phone number to restore and regain control.

More dangerously, many crooks also send fake login links to steal victims' Facebook, email, game accounts or e-wallets.

Mr. Hieu believes that the damage in these cases may not just stop at the amount of money used to buy game accounts.

"If users accidentally provide emails, phone numbers, OTP codes, personal documents or log in to fake links, they can lose social network accounts, bank accounts, personal data and be taken advantage of to trick others," experts warn.

To limit risks, experts advise players to be wary of accounts for sale at unusually low prices, transactions that continuously create pressure to transfer money quickly or only receive personal transfers.

In addition, you need to be wary when traders refuse to meet or verify in person, use newly created social network accounts, or have little real interaction.

In particular, players should not rely too much on feedback images posted by sellers themselves, because these contents can be faked to deceive buyers.

In addition, if the transaction party asks to log in to a strange link or says "If you don't go through an intermediary, you will lose the bet", you also need to be careful.

In case the player has transferred money or had their account taken back after purchasing, the player should quickly save all evidence such as chat content, money transfer receipt, bank account number, related link and identification information of the subject.

At the same time, you need to immediately change your email password, social network accounts, game accounts and turn on two-factor authentication.

"More importantly, victims need to report to the police or channels to receive cybercrime reports as soon as possible to increase the ability to block the cash flow and handle the subject," experts advised.

The character's name in the article has been changed.