A newly discovered exploit in GTA Online’s code allows unscrupulous modders on PC to extort other players’ money, reduce their reputation levels, and even kick them out of the game entirely.
twitter user sharp2 (opens in new tab) recently shed light on the issue – which it claims was discovered by fellow Twitter user harrygottaken (opens in new tab) – explaining that this exploit allows cheaters to “remotely add/remove/modify your stats and permanently corrupt your account aka ban/delete”. Tez2 warned GTA Online players not to play now, while cheaters can still take advantage of the exploit, or “avoid playing without firewall rules”.
News of the exploit has also spread throughout the GTA Online community. Thousands of people have reacted to a Reddit user’s post papaxan (opens in new tab) Which highlights Tez2’s tweet and encourages GTA Online players to mass report the issue to developer Rockstar,
Although the exploit only affects players playing the game on PC, it’s hard to see how cheaters have the power to completely corrupt other players’ accounts. To make matters worse, there are accounts of players receiving unwanted “gifts” from hackers and then being banned by Rockstar on the grounds that they were profiting from the exploit (via Hacker News (opens in new tab),
#GTAOnline PC HIGH ALERT⚠️New extreme exploits have appeared that allow fraudsters to remotely add/remove/modify your stats and permanently aka ban/delete your account. Avoid playing without firewall rules or playing at all!🚨 Thanks to @HarryGotTaken for the tip. pic.twitter.com/tyh4tCInMLJanuary 20, 2023
hacked off
Although this exploit is particularly bad, cheating has long been a problem in GTA Online. i have seen many reddit threads (opens in new tab) Uncovering the many issues of cheating in Grand Theft Auto Online over the years.
Similarly, Rockstar’s red dead online Hackers also fell victim. this led some (opens in new tab) To claim that Rockstar wasn’t simply combating cheaters – which the developer denied. Interview with PCGamesN (opens in new tab),
Scams and cheating are as old as online games themselves, however, and developers have often devised proactive responses to protect their communities. call of duty: vanguard legendary put the traitors to death By making enemy players invisible to any detected hackers, while the third-person sci-fi shooter Outrider from People Can Fly permanently branded Cheaters do this by adding a static watermark to their screens and forcing them to matchmake only with other cheaters.
I hope Rockstar follows in the footsteps of other developers and tries to kick off these new adventures quickly. However, given his track record with past cheating-related problems, I’m not holding my breath.