Hackers have turned the tables on Call of Duty cheaters by infecting them with malware designed to siphon off their Bitcoin BTC/USD. This cyberattack has raised concerns within the gaming and cryptocurrency communities.
What Happened: A group of hackers has unleashed malware that targets Call of Duty cheaters, pilfering their Bitcoin holdings, CoinDesk reported the news on Wednesday.
The malicious software has already affected a vast number of players, with figures continuing to rise. The malware informant [vxunderground] revealed that not all victims were cheaters; some were using legitimate gaming aids.
After users of “PhantomOverlay,” a provider of Call of Duty cheat codes, reported unauthorized transactions, the issue came to light. Other cheat providers, including “Elite PVPers,” have confirmed similar breaches over the past week.
The cyberattack has compromised a plethora of data, including login credentials and Electrum wallet contents. The exact amount of stolen cryptocurrency remains undetermined.
Activision Blizzard, now owned by Microsoft, is the developer behind Call of Duty. They are collaborating with cheat code providers to support impacted gamers. The current tally of hacked accounts includes over 3.6 million Battlenet, 561,000 Activision, and 117,000 Elite PVPers accounts.
PhantomOverlay has contested the reported figures, calling them “inflated” in a recent Telegram message. This incident is part of a broader trend where game cheaters have been targeted by exploiters, with similar events occurring in the Fortnite community in 2018 and 2019.
Why It Matters: The targeting of Call of Duty cheaters by hackers is a significant development in the ongoing battle between cyber criminals and the gaming community. This incident is not isolated; it reflects a growing trend of cyberattacks within the gaming and cryptocurrency spaces. In 2023, cryptocurrency phishing scams saw a dramatic rise, with $295 million stolen from approximately 324,000 victims.
Moreover, incidents like the fake Ledger Live app scam on the Microsoft App Store, which led to the theft of $590K in Bitcoin, highlight the vulnerability of users to sophisticated phishing operations. Additionally, in 2023, North Korea-affiliated hackers were reported to have stolen over $1 billion worth of crypto assets, setting a record for cryptocurrency platform breaches.
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