Teenagers are evidently making money by hacking into Fortnite accounts and selling them to other players.
According to the the BBC, hackers are using data from various breaches that can be found on the internet to open up the accounts in a phenomenon known as "cracking." They then sell the accounts for anywhere from 30 cents to thousands of dollars apiece, depending on the amount of gear and money associated with the account.
Anonymous hackers who spoke with the BBC said the amount of money each account is worth comes down to luck of the draw. “It’s lucky dip basically, you either get a good account or you don't," a 14-year-old hacker said. “People like the rarity of the ‘skins’ and it’s about the look of them and showing off to friends.”
According to the report, one teen said he made as much as $20,000 in seven months. Because of the breaches, Epic Games has recommended two-factor authentication for Fortnite accounts. They even incentivized the increased security by offering new emotes to players who layer their protection.
"Your account security is our top priority!” Epic wrote in a blog post. “Protect your account by enabling 2FA. As a reward for protecting your account, you’ll unlock the Boogiedown Emote in ‘Fortnite Battle Royale'."
Security concerns aren't the only negative press the wildly popular game has received in recent months. Several stars have sued Epic Games for copying their dance moves for the game's purchasable emotes.
