Kaspersky Asks Gamers to Beware of the Free Cyberpunk 2077 Scam

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – After officially launching today, Cyberpunk 2077 has become one of the most hotly discussed games. Many gamers also hope to be able to play this game for free. This is exploited by scammers who offer free downloads of Cyberpunk 2077, but instead they are after victims’ data.

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky found several websites that offer free downloads of Cyberpunk 2077. The websites found are all very similar, matched to the appropriate top-level language and domain. The URL contains words such as PC, games, and downloads in the site’s language. If the visitor clicks the button, the site downloads an executable file that looks like an installer to the computer. Upon opening it, the user will see a menu with several inactive buttons, creating the illusion that once installed, the app can be used to run and configure games.

Three active options: Install, Support (this button doesn’t work) and Exit will appear from the running application. Clicking Install will open a window showing the game being downloaded and opened. In fact the program does nothing but mimic the installation progress before requesting the user’s license key. Stuck users can “get” the key by clicking the Get License button.

Clicking the button will open another website that offers the user the opportunity to take a survey or enter a giveaway to get the key. The next prompt was a series of unrelated questions, as well as a request for a phone number and email address. Such contact information is likely to be the target of an attack, wherein contact information is useful for spamming.

After receiving all the answers, the site provides the key. At first glance, it appears that the key is working because it is coded into the fake installer. When loading the game, it seems as if the victims are just one step away from playing the game made by CD Projekt Red. Unfortunately, the app will show a splash screen then say it’s missing a DLL needed to run the game.

Frustrated users now have to click another Download button and are again redirected to a Web page with another survey (which is a dead end). Again, sadly, there is no golden container waiting at the end of the rainbow. Patient users will only come across fake installers and “games” that never get past the splash screen.

Kaspersky notes, downloading non-games, wasting time on useless surveys, and opening other spam databases are all bad, though not fatal. But similar schemes can be more dangerous. For example, instead of a survey, cybercriminals might ask for money in exchange for the key. Or instead of dummy installers, they might provide malware. This year, Kaspersky has registered several thousand infection attempts via fake Cyberpunk 2077 downloads.

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