GTA Online just can't seem to get rid of its hacker problem, even after all this time. Rockstar has gone to all kinds of lengths to make the game hacker-proof or at least a lot more hacker-resistant. Even so, nothing is unhackable, and this game seems to be far from it. An entirely new form of hack has recently popped up which at first might even seem beneficial... until it gets you banned.
Even before this hack surfaced, the script kiddies had an unfortunately wide array of tools at their disposal. They could instantly kill anyone or everyone in a lobby, spawn props, drop money, teleport, activate god mode, crash lobbies, pin the destruction of personal vehicles on others and much, much more.
While the game's anti-cheat system issues bans frequently and without remorse, the hackers almost always return or slip by unnoticed. Even if that were not so, their sheer number makes them a true bother. Whenever there is a ban wave, the streets stay clear for a few days — even a week, if we're lucky — but the hackers always return.
Recently, the game's anti-cheat got a much-needed upgrade which issues bans mid-session. Previously, an account had to be logged out of the game to be slapped with the ban, but now hackers who ticked off the anti-cheat would be hammered instantly. This upgrade seemed to be a major one, which would also likely bring with it more sophisticated detection algorithms to weed out the undesirables.
And yet, not soon after, instead of a marked decrease of hackers, the game sees the introduction of a new hack altogether. It's like the people behind these scripts purposefully timed this in a manner to try and make Rockstar look bad, even though they've delivered a major upgrade.
This new hack we're speaking about alters something that so far hackers could only change on their own account: rank. Generally, seeing rank 8000 players running around was a quick and easy way to identify a rookie script kidde who isn't worried about being a painfully obvious hacker.
This hack, however, doesn't boost them to a higher rank, but other players — rank 250, to be precise. No matter how far or close you are from rank 250, if a hacker in your lobby initiates this, you'll instantly reach that precise rank. Whether you're rank 2 and bumbled into this lobby, or rank 249 teetering on the edge, you'll get there either way.
