Xbox CTO Warns Against The Dangers Of Buying Fraudulent Game Codes

When it comes to buying Xbox game codes, Game Pass subscriptions, Gift Cards and whatever else, you can obviously do all of that through the official Microsoft Store, but you can also go to retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and others, and there are even “resellers” that sometimes offer Xbox codes for quite cheap prices.

You have to be careful with these, as although some of them are perfectly legitimate and will give you what you pay for, other less reputable avenues are more risky and could lead to you being the victim of a “fraudulent” code.

This week, Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet has been highlighting an instance of this over on social media, where apparently a bunch of users in Japan were hit with automatic bans for redeeming fraudulent game codes. No specifics were shared about where these codes came from, but clearly it happened enough times to catch Xbox’s attention.

“Over the weekend, the XBOX support team took enforcement action under our XBOX Community Standards against a set of accounts that redeemed fraudulent game codes. These codes were purchased through reseller channels, and some legitimate players unknowingly purchased and redeemed them. Several of those players contacted XBOX Support with concerns, and after investigating, we reinstated accounts that we determined belonged to legitimate players who were inadvertently caught up in this enforcement action.

We take fraud seriously across XBOX and will continue to monitor and address this type of activity carefully, while aiming to avoid suspending legitimate players who unintentionally purchase fraudulent codes. The best way to protect yourself is to purchase XBOX products, games, and codes from authorized retailers.”

As you can see, the good news here is that Xbox recognised the issue and “reinstated accounts that we determined belonged to legitimate players who were inadvertently caught up in this enforcement action”. In other words, they have no plans to punish people who “unknowingly purchased and redeemed them”.

And of course, this is just happening in Japan according to the CTO’s message, although someone in the comments mentions that players in China appear to have been affected too – and ultimately it could happen anywhere in the world.

We’re reassured by the fact that Xbox is working to reinstate accounts that were caught up in fraudulent activity by accident, and this is also a timely reminder that if something seems too good to be true, that might actually be the case.

At the very least, do your research and make sure that whatever you’re buying is coming from a reputable source with a solid track record. As long as you’re doing that, you’ll likely never end up running into an issue such as this.