Beware of pay-to-win cryptocurrency games on your mobile devices. The FBI warns people that criminals are developing fake apps to steal money from them.
The FBI says these situations usually start with scammers trying to establish online relationships with their targets. Then, after a link is formed, the criminal introduces a gaming app where they can "supposedly earn cryptocurrency rewards in exchange for some activity, such as growing 'crops' on an animated farm," according to the Bureau.
Criminals will also pressure their victims to build a cryptocurrency wallet and keep adding to ensure more in-game rewards. But once the money stops being distributed, the FBI says that's when scammers empty their digital wallets thanks to malware linked to the app. Worse yet, criminals might even claim that victims can get their funds back by paying a fake fee.
So what can you do if you are interested in crypto gaming? the fbi provided the following three tips in a press release:
- Create a unique wallet to use. This isolates your major cryptocurrency holdings in case you unknowingly grant illicit actors access to your gaming wallet.
- Use a third-party blockchain explorer to independently verify address balances in your game wallet.
- Periodically use a third-party token allocation checker to help you see which sites or apps you have inadvertently allowed to access the funds in your wallet and revoke those permissions.
In other blockchain gaming news, Square Enix says there will be 10,000 characters in its NFT game called symbiogenesis. Other companies in the past have faced criticism for incorporating NFTs into titles. For example, Ubisoft saw backlash for its NFT program called Quartz.
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