{"id":1614918,"date":"2026-06-23T16:48:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4kPatxE8GMtpuoYaWuqUz7"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:48:46","slug":"grand-theft-auto-6-vip-early-access-scam-sites-are-already-popping-up-malwarebytes-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/grand-theft-auto-6-vip-early-access-scam-sites-are-already-popping-up-malwarebytes-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Theft Auto 6 ‘VIP early access’ scam sites are already popping up, Malwarebytes warns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a> is still five months away (on consoles, remember, no PC release date yet) and preorders won’t be live until later this week. But that apparently hasn’t stopped numerous websites from promising eager fans that they can get early access to the game right now for a price. Lest there be any doubt, cybersecurity company Malwarebytes is warning that they’re nothing but a scam.<\/p>\n

A report posted today<\/a> says “a new wave of scam websites” are offering “VIP early access” to the next GTA in exchange for a grossly inflated price of “a few hundred dollars,” payable in cryptocurrency. Malwarebyte also shared a few images of the scam sites in question.<\/p>\n

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One site leverages GTA 6, Mr. Beast, and Lego all at the same time\u2014a powerful combo, no doubt.<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Malwarebytes)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But of course, there’s nothing to be had. Worse, because payments are made in crypto, there’s no way to recover or report the loss. The money is gone and there’s no getting it back.<\/p>\n

Stefan Dasic of Malwarebytes described GTA 6 as “the perfect bait” for scams like this in his report. Grand Theft Auto is among the biggest game franchises in the world, with hundreds of millions of copies sold, and it’s been 13 years since GTA 5. The hype for GTA 6 is enormous<\/em>, and “scammers simply exploit that excitement.”<\/p>\n

You might think that this sort of thing is way too obvious for anyone to fall for, but as a wise old friend once told me, you don’t know what you don’t know<\/em>. I’ve been online for almost as long as ‘online’ has existed, and I write about this stuff for a living\u2014but a 14-year-old with a smartphone, no matter how hip to the scene he may appear, might be tempted to take a shot.<\/p>\n

But it’s not just kids, to be clear. As the report points out (and as we’ve all no doubt seen once or twice in our lives), burning desire can overwhelm chilled caution, and verbiage used on these scam sites encourage impulsive decisions. They also look pretty legit, and the situation is further confused by the fact that preordering a more expensive edition for “advance access” to a new release is very common for videogames now.<\/p>\n