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Take-Two going after fake GTAV beta sites

Publisher files complaints with World Intellectual Property Organization over sites claiming to have beta codes for upcoming Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto parent publisher Take-Two Interactive is going after Grand Theft Auto V scammers. As spotted by Fusible, the publisher has filed complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over two sites claiming to have beta keys for the upcoming open-world action game.

Take-Two filed the new complaints this week over www.gta5betacode.com and www.grandtheftauto5beta.com. Neither site resolves to anything at present, though Fusible reports that the former was a fully functional website, with a Facebook page and a YouTube account.

The site reportedly instructed users to share the scam with their Facebook friends to receive a beta code for GTAV. The site's Facebook page has over 1,300 likes as of this writing. The site itself was created in January and is registered to a person in Pennsylvania.

GTAV is not the only high-profile upcoming game to attract scammers. A website claiming to have beta keys for the unannounced (but rumored) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 emerged earlier this year, followed by a fraudulent teaser website for the game last week.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

38 comments
GERMAcide
GERMAcide

You know how GTA IV had 2 e dlc? Las Venturas and San Fireero I bet will be DLC. And if theres backwards compatibilty then why the hell is everyone so wierd about this????

KaptajnKnap
KaptajnKnap

@GERMAcide They put way too much DLC in GTA IV, and RockStar said that they had learned from that, since it didn't work as well as they'd hope.
I hope there will be no DLC, that this will be somewhat oldschool, hence DLC is flooding over the banks pretty much everywhere you look.
GTA has always set some kind of new standard every time they have released a game, but not with GTA IV in my opinion. I hope they've cut out the crap and focused on fun and creative gaming.

KaptajnKnap
KaptajnKnap

WHY is this on GameSpot? How about some GAME news, instead of telling us who is filing a lawsuit against who. Jebus.

- And if these people signing up for beta keys are actually that stupid, they should log on to facebook, where Sony apparently need some folks to test the new PS4..! Strangely enough, the group claiming this is 8 days old. Mwah, whatev', it's prolly all legit facts.

KNOWLEDGE IS FREE ON THE INTERNET, WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL SO STUPID?!?!!

Flexanite
Flexanite like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

The people that fall for the beta scam are probably the same people that actually think the Prince of Nigeria is actually emailing them millions of dollars. 

vivalatour
vivalatour

taking advantage of whatever they can , is that a plan ? well that seems to me to be old as the hills ! does not anyone have any original ideas ? there are a lot of scum bags sitting in the shadow so make sure you have the lights on high beam along with your brain !!!!!

BlazeKingz
BlazeKingz

Really? whos so stupid? this isnt minecraft why the hell would rockstar release a beta of their game.

jsmoke03
jsmoke03

hope they crack down on this. but really some people just need to be smarter with these things

tightwad34
tightwad34

Yeah, I got a text message the other day from some chick I didn't know saying she had posted some pics on some website and blah, blah. Don't know if it was a scam, don't care. I just ignored it and if it wasn't a scam hopefully that girl contacted the right person. That's still not even close to as bad as the texts or voice messages you get claiming you have won something or all you have to do is this or that. I know you guys get those ones too.

Duke_51
Duke_51

@tightwad34 uhh I don't.. in fact I've never gotten spam-texts, come to think of it.

playniko69
playniko69 like.author.displayName 1 Like

haha wtf is this? The 90's? How are people still dumb enough to fall for shit like that? I MEAN SERIOUSLY NOW! I'm legitimately concerned about those fucking idiots. Sometimes I wonder if they also believe they are the 10,000th visitor and that they should claim their prize before it's too late. hahahahah people are so fucking stupid. They deserve to get scammed.

shadowhunter0
shadowhunter0

anyone who falls for these scams deserves to be scammed because you were such an idiot for falling for it

videogamer008
videogamer008

anyone who makes phony sites and yes i am sticking up for you guys over at Rockstar is going to be one sorry guy because Rockstar is trying its best to keep you guys on the know but stupid idiots such as phony on es have to ruin it all... 

don't worry, Rockstar because i have you guys' backs over there and if i see one more fake site from another phony dum-dum, it is on like King Kong on the Empire State Building... But... this time, it won't be the planes he is after, it will be phony preachers like you guys....

i have ROCKSTAR  back

CaptainGamespot
CaptainGamespot like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

every time a hot game is coming, fake sites go up to attract naive gamers info.

scared7
scared7

I heard of these crap sites that you could get beta codes to play GTA V before the release. But i never trust these sites. I wait for the news from Rockstargames on there own site The Socialclub.

hellangel_boy
hellangel_boy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Some people think that anything they see on the internet is true, while 70% or 80% of it is fake. And websites like Facebook support the spreading of things like these.

Hurvl
Hurvl

But if the sites do have genuine beta codes it's even worse, lol.

VarHyid
VarHyid like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

That is officially today's "meh" article - couldn't care about these scammers, can't really feel sorry for people who fall for that so... meh... whatever ;)

Leeric420
Leeric420

People should know by now, Take 2 dont play that....

EuGenie199
EuGenie199

It like watching a fake movie or video games trailers all over again

burgeg
burgeg like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 7 Like

I clicked on this article just so I would have something new GTA V related to click on, even if it is just about a scam.

Gallowhand
Gallowhand like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

It's sad that some people are gullible enough to fall for these kinds of scams.  If it's not officially announced by the publisher or the developer, then it's most likely fake.  But I guess these scammers are playing on people's gaming addiction...

shadowhunter0
shadowhunter0

@Gallowhand agree and it is the same way for me with rumors/leaks I will believe it is fake until it is officially announced

tonyleo01
tonyleo01 like.author.displayName 1 Like

About time someone do something about these douchbags.

billlabowski
billlabowski like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Guess what? I don't care. Why? Because unless a credible source talks about their game having a beta, I don't even bother with it. I don't Google the game looking for sites and unless you have an IQ lower than Forrest Gump, you can easily tell when a site is a fake, phishing site.

brxricano
brxricano

@billlabowski Well guess what we got us some Forrest Gumps Bubba Shrimps and Sam I Ams out here dude.

GamerOuTLaWz
GamerOuTLaWz like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

So nowadays every minimally popular game will get their fake BS websites??? God damn,way too many losers with time to lose on this Earth.

majidok
majidok like.author.displayName 1 Like

@GamerOuTLaWz These 2 games aren't minimally popular , look at their franchise sales numbers . Regardless of the review scores or whether people who bought liked them or not they still bought them so they got a very large audience :-)

Lost-to-Apathy
Lost-to-Apathy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 16 Like

I'd love to take a shovel and knock their head off. Those damn douchebags that make fake shit get on my fucking nerves. Also, the people who are dumb enough to fall for this kind of stuff. They get on my nerves, too. People should not be that dumb.

Hurvl
Hurvl

@Lost-to-Apathy Your comment and user name really contradict each other, lol, but I agree. It's irritating that people try to scam others and it's even more irritating when they succeed and thus are encouraged to keep on doing it.

erix43
erix43 like.author.displayName 1 Like

@Lost-to-Apathy 

You don't need to play any more video games. Your nerd rage is apparent. It's not that serious. 

sunbeam4
sunbeam4 like.author.displayName 1 Like

@erix43 @Lost-to-Apathy when you've got a minimum of wist, you know that it ain't serious. unless you're a new born to the WorldWideWeb.

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