G2A Speaks Out About Gray Market Fraud And Theft Accusations

[HardOCP News]

I don't know, it just seems like if everything is on the up and up, this whole gray market game key fraud thing would be fairly easy to fix. Once a fraud complaint from the publisher has been filed, stop selling the game until the seller can verify authenticity. Ta-da! Problem solved.

The confrontation has involved many players over the years, but this latest flare-up was initiated by small publisher TinyBuild. The company has accused G2A, a third-party resale clearinghouse with locations in Poland, Hong Kong, and London, of selling $450,000 worth of the publisher’s keys obtained through illicit methods. When the owner of the stolen payment method discovers what's happened, their credit card company reverses the charges, the developer is charged back, and the keys are still floating in the market.

 

[Budwise]

Maybe the gaming industry should stop charging $60 for an imcomplete beta level game and then try and get you to buy the rest of it via "DLC". In Company of Heroes 2 if you add up the DLC costs of just commanders to stay multiplayer competitive you'd be at probably around $150 lol.

The gaming industry will get zero sympathy from me.

 

[LurkerLito]

However, because no identifying information is collected up front, G2A must contact each of those sellers in hopes that they will respond to the suspension of their accounts.

Seriously WTF? That policy is BULLSHIT. If you don't confirm a valid ID for the sellers BEFORE they start allowing them to sell, I think the "auction" site should be 100% as liable for the selling of stolen keys as the people who are selling them. I have never bought from them but was tempted a few times, but I can tell you I will never buy from them now. What kind of an idiot sets up a policy where an "auction" site doesn't get a valid confirmed ID for the seller before you let them sell stuff? You might as well call yourself WeSellStolenKeys.com.

 

[mope54]

How is that any different from eBay or Amazon marketplace? Both of those sites don't force ID confirmation before you can sell through them.

 

[DukenukemX]

Yea, I don't care I just want cheap games. I bought Dark Souls 3 from G2A for $45 and so far so good. I waited a good 2 months to see if the game would drop. As much as I love Dark Souls games, to me DS3 seems kinda cheaply made. Most of the bosses are knights, and most of the environments are castles. DS3 unlike DS2 takes a nostalgia trip to DS1, but it begins to look like they just took a lot of assets from DS1 to put in DS3. And they wanted $60 for this game? Felt like paying $45 was too much.

 

[DrLobotomy]

I buy my games at a retail store or from the publisher directly unless it is steam or origin or GOG. Even GOG gives me the tingles since it is 3rd party but they have proven themselves so they are on the fly list. If you try to buy shit from anyplace else then I have no pity for you.

Amazon and E-bay are a poison that I try to avoid as much as possible.

Where you buy your game has nothing to do with the quality or completeness of that game. Don't know why peeps are bringing that up.

 

[Mut1ny]

So it was their credit card companies problem? How do you get "illegal" keys to begin with? From some virtual key bank robbery?

Sounds to me like the developer pulled some scam shit and/or wants to double dip in the profits. Something about this seems to be very little issue with G2A and more like the dev being sketchy as fuck.

 

[Derangel]

So it was their credit card companies problem? How do you get "illegal" keys to begin with? From some virtual key bank robbery?

Sounds to me like the developer pulled some scam shit and/or wants to double dip in the profits. Something about this seems to be very little issue with G2A and more like the dev being sketchy as fuck.

Ever hear of stolen credit card numbers? You know what else is sketchy as fuck? Not even bothering to verify sellers. G2A might as well just admit that they don't give a fuck about where keys come from or how legal they are.

 

[LurkerLito]

So it was their credit card companies problem? How do you get "illegal" keys to begin with? From some virtual key bank robbery?

Sounds to me like the developer pulled some scam shit and/or wants to double dip in the profits. Something about this seems to be very little issue with G2A and more like the dev being sketchy as fuck.

No someone bought the keys with stolen CC#s that they sold on G2A. The dev then got hit by charge backs when the real owners of the CC#s saw the fraudulent charges and took the money back from the dev. G2A should be liable because they have NO contact info for the seller except an IP address according to the article and whatever fake email address they were given to open the account. G2A is the only sketchy thing here.

 

[dark_reign]

Amazon and E-bay are a poison that I try to avoid as much as possible.

Amazon is reliable. Haven't used Ebay in years. Too many false claims from sellers and BS feedback from buyers. I've had good luck with cdkeys.com. No BS. Just dirt cheap keys.

 

[Time2Kill]

No someone bought the keys with stolen CC#s that they sold on G2A. The dev then got hit by charge backs when the real owners of the CC#s saw the fraudulent charges and took the money back from the dev. G2A should be liable because they have NO contact info for the seller except an IP address according to the article and whatever fake email address they were given to open the account. G2A is the only sketchy thing here.

Why should G2A be responsible? Ebay isn't responsible if I sell stolen goods on their site. G2A is just the middle man like ebay. They're not the ones scamming the developer with the fraudulent charges. Maybe the seller/developer should keep track of who buys what keys and then they can deactivate them. Problem solved.

 

[evilsofa]

I don't know, it just seems like if everything is on the up and up, this whole gray market game key fraud thing would be fairly easy to fix. Once a fraud complaint from the publisher has been filed, stop selling the game until the seller can verify authenticity. Ta-da! Problem solved.

I don't know, it just seems like if everything is on the up and up, this whole gray water causing disease when consumed thing would be fairly easy to fix. Once a complaint from a patient has been filed, stop selling the gray water until the seller can verify cleanliness.

 

[Derangel]

Why should G2A be responsible? Ebay isn't responsible if I sell stolen goods on their site. G2A is just the middle man like ebay. They're not the ones scamming the developer with the fraudulent charges. Maybe the seller/developer should keep track of who buys what keys and then they can deactivate them. Problem solved.

Ebay also has systems in place to attempt to protect people from scams and requires a lot more information from sellers. G2A gives no shits who you are or where the keys came from. Hell, they don't even offer protection to the buyer unless you give them extra money when you buy a key. That is fucking ridiculous.

 

[CrazyRob]

So, although G2A's practices aren't helpful, I have a hard time connecting them with the original illegal transaction. From what I've gathered, the key's are first "stolen" by being purchased in bulk from the developer with stolen credit cards. G2A was not involved in the process. They are then sold on G2A to unsuspecting buyers. Eventually, the cardholder that was ripped off cancels the charges, taking money back from the developer. So, the developer should know what keys were sold to the fraudulent credit cards and be able to cancel them.

It sounds to me like the developer/publisher didn't take enough precautions when originally selling their licenses (tracking keys to each transaction, buyer ID, etc) and they are now trying to make it someone else's (G2A) problem. Sure, G2A isn't helping much, but they aren't the source of the problem, just caught up in the middle.