Introduction

A group of unknown cybercriminals has launched malware targeting players who cheat in Call of Duty, resulting in the theft of their bitcoin. This malicious software has affected a large number of players, and the situation continues to escalate. Game developer Activision Blizzard is cooperating with cheat providers to assist impacted players.

Cheaters in the video game Call of Duty are facing repercussions as cybercriminals have introduced an information-stealing malware that seizes the bitcoin holdings of certain players. The malware has already affected many players, with the numbers continuing to rise, according to malware market specialist @vxunderground. Some affected accounts belonged to users who utilized gaming software for latency improvement, VPNs, and controller boosters.

The discovery of the malware was made by the Call of Duty cheat code provider "PhantomOverlay" after users reported unauthorized transactions. Competing cheat providers, like Elite PVPers, also confirmed similar incidents to @vxunderground in recent days. Stolen data includes newly acquired login details, with some victims reporting drained Electrum wallets. The extent of the crypto theft remains uncertain.

Activision Blizzard is working with cheat providers to support impacted players. Approximately 3.6 million Battlenet accounts, 561,000 Activision accounts, and 117,000 Elite PVPers accounts have been compromised. PhantomOverlay contested this figure, claiming it was exaggerated in a Telegram broadcast.

Conclusion

Hackers have been targeting game cheaters for years, with previous incidents involving malware posing as cheats for popular games like Fortnite. In 2018, a fake Fortnite cheat stole bitcoin wallet login information, while in 2019, hackers blocked access to users' computer data.