A newly discovered exploit in GTA Online’s code is allowing unscrupulous PC modders to take money from other players, lower their reputation levels, and even lock them out of the game altogether.
Twitter users Tez2 (opens in a new tab) recently highlighted the issue – which he claims was discovered by another Twitter user Harry GotTaken (opens in a new tab) – explains that this exploit allows fraudsters to “remotely add/remove/modify your stats and permanently damage your account aka ban/delete”. Tez2 has warned GTA Online players not to play right now while the exploit can still be exploited by cheaters or “avoid playing without firewall rules”.
News of the exploit has also spread to the GTA Online community. Thousands of people responded to a Reddit user post PapaXan (opens in a new tab) highlighted Tez2’s tweet and encouraged GTA Online players to report a series of issues to the Rockstar developer,
While the exploit only affects people playing the game on PC, it’s hard to see how cheaters have the power to completely screw up other players’ accounts. Worse still, there are player accounts that receive unwanted “gifts” from hackers and are subsequently banned by Rockstar on the grounds that they are benefiting from mining (via Hacker News (opens in a new tab)).
#GTAOnline PC High Alert⚠️New extreme exploits have appeared that allow cheaters to add/remove/modify your stats remotely and permanently damage your account aka ban /to clear. Avoid playing without firewall rules or playing at all! 🚨Thanks to @HarryGotTaken for the notice. pic.twitter.com/tyh4tCInMLJanuary 20, 2023
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While this exploit is particularly annoying, cheating has long been a problem in GTA Online. I have seen some Reddit thread (opens in a new tab) highlights Grand Theft Auto Online’s numerous cheating problems over the years.
Similarly, Rockstar’s Red Dead Online also at the hands of hackers. this led some (opens in a new tab) to claim that Rockstar is not at all against cheaters – something the developer denied in a Interview with PCGamesN (opens in a new tab).
Grief and fraud are as old as online games, however, developers often create proactive responses to protect their communities. Call of Duty: Famous Vanguard troll cheat to death by making enemy players invisible to any detected hackers, while third-person sci-fi shooter Outriders from People Can Fly permanent brand cheaters by adding a permanent watermark to their screen and forcing them to match only other cheaters.
I hope that Rockstar will follow in the footsteps of other developers and find a way to address these new exploits quickly. However, with their track record of previous fraud-related issues, I couldn’t hold my breath.
