An unidentified group of hackers has released malicious software aimed at Call of Duty players, primarily targeting those who use cheat codes to progress through the game. The exact amount of stolen cryptocurrency remains unknown.
According to an expert operating under the pseudonym Vx-underground, the malware has affected hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. The primary targets of the hackers are users who employ unofficial software solutions, known as cheat codes, to facilitate gameplay.
One of the first to notice suspicious activity was the cheat code provider, PhantomOverlay. According to the provider, several users reported unauthorized purchases using cryptocurrency. Later, similar attacks were confirmed by another provider, Elite PVPers.
The hackers have reportedly stolen player account details and an unknown amount of Bitcoin from Electrum wallets. Vx-underground states that Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is working with the cheat code providers to aid the affected players.
The estimated number of compromised accounts includes:
- 3,662,627 Battlenet profiles;
- 561,183 Activision accounts;
- 117,366 Elite PVPers accounts;
- 572,831 UnknownCheats profiles;
- 1,365 PhantomOverlay accounts.
When PhantomOverlay administration staff reached out to Elite PVPers regarding the hacked accounts, the latter confirmed the exploit of more than 40,000 accounts. However, assessing the exact scale of the attack is currently challenging due to the large volume of data.
Vx-underground noted, “It’s worth mentioning that not all accounts are associated with cheat codes. Some users were using gaming software to reduce latency and improve controller performance.”
In April 2023, Call of Duty developers launched a game on the ImmutableX blockchain.
