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Last week, The Independent published a report on how criminals are allegedly using Fortnite to launder money. More specifically, some criminals are using dirty money from stolen credit cards to buy V-bucks in bulk, which they then turn around and sell on 3rd party websites. Given the sheer size of Fortnite's userbase, and the billions of dollars they spend on outfits and other virtual items, that actually sounds like a efficient way to clean money, as the vast pool of (often young) Fortnite players would be more than happy to buy V-bucks on the cheap. The Independent's investigation suggests that this is a large-scale problem, and one investigator said that Epic Games isn't doing enough to mitigate it.
It is unclear how much profit criminals were able to make through money laundering, though Sixgill found that Fortnite items grossed more than $250,000 on eBay in a 60 day period last year. Figures from the firm also show that the number of mentions of Fortnite on the dark web have risen in direct correlation with the game's monthly revenues. One dark web seller seen by The Independent claims to be offering V-Bucks at a discounted rate as a form of charity. "I'm f**king rich as f**k," they wrote in the product's description. "Now it's time to give back to the deep web at a massive discounted rate." The vendor accepts bitcoin and bitcoin cash, two semi-anonymous cryptocurrencies that are difficult for law enforcement agencies to track.
It is unclear how much profit criminals were able to make through money laundering, though Sixgill found that Fortnite items grossed more than $250,000 on eBay in a 60 day period last year. Figures from the firm also show that the number of mentions of Fortnite on the dark web have risen in direct correlation with the game's monthly revenues. One dark web seller seen by The Independent claims to be offering V-Bucks at a discounted rate as a form of charity. "I'm f**king rich as f**k," they wrote in the product's description. "Now it's time to give back to the deep web at a massive discounted rate." The vendor accepts bitcoin and bitcoin cash, two semi-anonymous cryptocurrencies that are difficult for law enforcement agencies to track.