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Hackers as young as 14 targeting Fortnite, selling players' information

December 21, 2018

Some children as young as 14 are hacking accounts and stealing thousands of dollars through the popular video game of Fortnite.

In an investigation carried out by the BBC, 20 hackers spoke about how they steal the private gaming accounts of players and resell them online.

Although free to play, Fortnite makes its money by selling add-ons and "skins", which allow players to change their character's look.

These add-ons make players easy targets for hackers who then sell on accounts to other players.

Fortnite hacking victims have been taking to social media to vent their frustration.

"I woke up one day and my account was hacked," one 14-year-old victim who identity was not revealed told the BBC.

"The email said that my password had been changed and two-factor authentication had been added by someone else. It felt horrible," he said.

It was through venting his frustration on Twitter that he was approached to buy another’s account.

"Someone said I could buy an account for 25p and I could clearly see the account was worth a lot more," he says.

"I bought it."

The young player then turned to hacking himself.

"I was approached by a cracking team and they told me what it was and all about 'combos', 'proxies' and I guess they showed me how to crack," he said.

Another hacker the BBC spoke to said he made up to $NZ30,000 through the game and despite knowing it’s illegal carries on ripping off accounts.

Epic the company which owns Fortnite was made aware of the problem back in March. They say they’re looking into the problem.

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