The warnings about Grand Theft Auto VI scams appear to have reached local television. CBS News Miami ran a segment on October 18 telling fans to watch out for scammers who are exploiting the hype around the game. The advice will sound familiar to anyone who has followed us closely. It is the same thing we've told fans for months. The only difference is that this time it's coming from a mainstream news desk.
The segment quoted Chris Mawson, founder and editor-in-chief of the site Power Up Gaming, who had a very specific warning. According to him, the scammers will often post fake social-media ads with links promising you early access to GTA 6 for a certain fee. "When the user installs it, unfortunately, it turns out to be malware or a virus," Mawson said. It is the kind of malware that can steal personal information or money. He pointed to the psychology behind it. "We all experience the fear of missing out," he said. The scams prey on exactly that.
Mawson's advice? There is no legitimate way to play GTA 6 early, so any offer to download it before launch is a scam. Buy the game only from Rockstar Games' official site or a reputable store. Never click a download link posted on social media. Pre-order through real retailers. When you pay, use a credit card rather than cryptocurrency, since crypto is far harder to claw back and get refunded once it is gone. "Anyone promising that on social media should be treated as an immediate red flag," Mawson said.
What the warning flags
The scam | The safe move |
|---|---|
Social-media ads promising early downloads for a fee | There is no early access, so skip it and wait for launch |
A "download" that installs malware or a virus | Get the game only from Rockstar's official site or a known store |
Pressure built on fear of missing out | Nothing legitimate requires you to rush before November 19 |
Requests to pay in cryptocurrency | Pay with a credit card, which is easier to dispute |
The advice is simple, there is no way to play GTA 6 before November 19.
A local TV station running a consumer-protection segment about a video game is a sign of how far GTA 6 has crossed into the mainstream. Miami has an obvious stake, since the game is set in a version of the city, so a GTA 6 story is local news there. CBS even spoke to a Miami resident, Oscar Chiffone, who said he will wait for the official release and buy the next Grand Theft Auto only through legitimate channels. When the evening news is teaching people how not to get scammed buying a game, that game is a cultural event in its own right.
With that said, we have spent months raising these alarms. We told readers to stay away from the latest GTA 6 leak and the fake builds sold off the back of it. We even put together a full guide on how to spot GTA 6 scams before you lose money and wrote one on how to avoid spoilers for anyone trying to go in clean. Nothing has changed. There is no public build, no beta and no early access, so anything that offers one is after your money or your data.
GTA 6 giveaway
Win a full copy of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition.We're giving away full copies of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition in several draws through launch. Enter with your email, then join in once on the site. One entry per person.
Prize
A full copy of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition
Email first, then one site action during the draw window.
The scammers are counting on the one thing every GTA 6 fan has in common right now, impatience. The cure is simple. All you have to do is to wait for November 19 and buy the game the normal way. Nothing you see before then is the real thing.
In the meantime, the real GTA 6 marketing is impossible to miss in Miami. The City of Miami cleared downtown GTA 6 banners in a defined event area from October 15, the Kaseya Center's "Welcome to Vice City" rooftop sign is installed and lit and the Miami Heat will turn into "Vice City" for a night on November 18 with Wynwood Walls running an official partnership with free local museum admission and GTA 6 murals. On the sand, branded beach gear and NINE1NINE plane banners have shown up on South Beach, while a GTA 6 blimp has been flying down the coast. There is even a convoy of real GTA 6 cars driving around the city.
If nothing else, these are where your attention should go to, not a download link in your messages.