Players of online games such as Roblox, Fortnite and Fifa are warned to watch out for scammers amid concerns that gangs are targeting the platforms.
Online games boomed during the pandemic lock down as people turned to socialising in multiplayer spaces.
One of the UK s biggest banks, Lloyds, is so concerned about how games are being used that it will launch a warning code for players and a character to go with it this week.
Its research found that a fifth of gamers had either known someone who had suffered a gaming scam or had been a victim, but less than a third said they knew how to spot one.
When scammers do tricks on money, they always look for new ways to trick people out of their money, and the world of video games is no exception, said Philip Robinson, fraud prevention director at Lloyds.
These are often organized criminal gangs who don t care about who they are defrauding and will happily groom young players to gain their trust and access to their personal information. The research found that the average player spent 14 hours a week onscreen and that gamers had spend more time, and money, in-play than before.
Add to this an environment where trusting and interacting with strangers has been somewhat normalised, and you have a rich environment that is ripe for fraudsters picking, Robinson said.
The scams vary in complexity. Lloyds Games console fraud, where scammers trick victim into buying machines they never receive, were among the most common types of purchase scams reported by its customers.
One common crime involves fraudsters tricking people into downloading malware on their device, often through advertising add-ons to a game at a cheaper price than the official channels are charging.
Phishing exercises, where players are reportedly persuaded to give away valuable personal details, are also common, using emails and in-game chats, while some gangs are reportedly using the platforms to recruit money mules bank customers who agree to pay money into their accounts.
One 20 - year old gamer interviewed for the research reported receiving a notification that there had been an unusual login to their gaming console account from Saudi Arabia. The code a set of guidelines that help games hide themselves will urge people to Shield an acronym for actions including screens with strangers and hiding personal details
The Ukie trade association UK and Gaming websites said the code would help players to stay on their guard. Its chief executive, Jo Twist, said: Games are a hugely popular form of entertainment for all ages, and game companies work incredibly hard to ensure players have a memorable and secure time within games themselves.
However, many scam websites are always seeking opportunities to scam consumers. Three years ago, Action Fraud, an organisation which collects reports of scams, warned that criminals were targeting players at Fortnite.
In most cases, gamers had seen an advertisement on a social media page saying that if they followed a link and submitted some information they would get free V-Bucks, Fortnite's currency.
The details were used to log in to the game and sell or log on to the accounts to other players. On average, players lost 146 each through scams.
The full code is at askaboutgames.com shield-against-scams and is published on AskaboutGames.com.