Don’t trust websites or emails promising GTA 5 for PC

Mar 14, 2014 14:24 GMT  ·  By

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 might become available at some point, but for the time being, it doesn’t exist, not even in Beta. If you receive an email that appears to be an invitation for Beta testing, don’t click on the links and don’t open the attachment.

Security researchers from Trend Micro have come across a spam campaign that relies on emails entitled “GTA V.”

The emails read something like this: “You invited to Beta tester GTA V to Windows. Registered this link with the promotion code: [random number]. By creating an account you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.”

Slovakian cybercriminals appear to be behind this campaign since the links contained in the emails are written in Slovak. The links point to various websites, including a phishing site. However, the most dangerous component of this email is the attachment.

The archive that’s attached to the emails contains an executable called “Your promo code in app rockstargames.com.” This is a backdoor detected by Trend Micro as BKDR_ANDROM.ATG. Once it infects a system, the malware gives cybercriminals complete access to the victim’s computer.

The bottom line is that GTA 5 doesn’t exist for PC, at least not yet. Any website that offers GTA 5 for PC download links is probably part of a scam or some cybercriminal operation.

If you’re a victim of this attack, scan your computer with an updated antivirus to make sure it’s not infected.