Fortnite developer Epic Games has already had to warn about scams trying to dupe players of its hit multiplayer game. There have been fake Android beta invites being sent out via email, and there are plenty of sites promising free V-Bucks (the in-game currency) that claim to be affiliated with Epic Games despite there being no connection whatsoever. But it seems that despite these warnings, many players are still getting tricked.

According to a new report published by The Daily Telegraph, children in particular are being targeted by these Fortnite scams. Advertisements posted on social media and YouTube, where Fortnite recently set records, offer free V-Bucks and entice young fans into handing over their Epic Games account details. The scammers will then use this information to access the player's account, before collecting bank account and card information in order to make fraudulent charges. These account details generally belong to the child's parent, leaving the parents bewildered and stunned that their child has been scammed.

It's unclear exactly how many children (and parents) have been impacted by these sorts of Fortnite scams but Action Fraud, a department of the City of London Police says that it has received a number of reports about fraudulent charges. Action Fraud echoed Epic Games in encouraging players to only use the official website when downloading or purchasing add-ons for games. The department also added that "It is important that parents make their children aware of the threat of fraud online and warn them that fraudsters will do anything they can to gain access to personal and financial details which may be held online as part of a gamers account.”

This is far from the first time that Fortnite-related scams have made the headlines - which is why Epic Games has had to be so stern in warning its fans about revealing account details to unknown sites. Earlier this year, it was reported that Fortnite players had been frauded for hundreds of dollars, as hackers had broken into their accounts using phishing tactics and security leaks from other sites. At the time, Epic Games encouraged players to enable two-factor sign-ign meaning that when someone logs into the account from a new device, they will have to enter a security code that will be sent to the account owner via email.

This also isn't the first time that parents have raised concerns about the children's time spent playing the game, with Good Morning America broadcasting an entire segment focused on parents' fears about the game. The warning from Action Fraud will only give them something else to be worried about, but it at least means that they can actively work to improve their child's awareness.

Fortnite is available now in early access for iOS devices, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It will be released soon on Android devices.

Source: The Daily Telegraph