by Murray Lewis
Ubisoft mass key deactivation caused by credit card fraudsters
There was something of a panic at the start of this week, when a number of people found games mysteriously missing from their UPlay accounts.
Ubisoft said they were targeting keys which had been 'fraudulently obtained,' and have today confirmed that the deactivated keys were originally bought on EA's Origin store using stolen credit cards, and then passed on through key reseller sites.
Games affected include big sellers like Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed: Unity, Watch_Dogs, and The Crew.
One of the biggest resellers, Kinguin, has issued a statement to say that an unidentified individual from Russia was responsible, so far causing over 4,600 refund requests for now-useless keys. They're keen to point out that full refunds will be forthcoming for everyone affected, to the tune of €148,377.
As to what actually happened, they pointed the finger of blame squarely at Ubisoft and EA:
'It seems odd to us that with such big quantities involved "somebody" bought these via credit card or cards from Origin without any suspicion raised during the purchase process.
We at Kinguin do not claim ourselves technologically more advanced than Ubisoft or Origin however we do verify big or unusual purchases. We believe these platforms must have access to anti-fraud ecommerce tools that should raise alarm flags in such cases'
We at Kinguin do not claim ourselves technologically more advanced than Ubisoft or Origin however we do verify big or unusual purchases. We believe these platforms must have access to anti-fraud ecommerce tools that should raise alarm flags in such cases'