How underage Roblox players are being scammed by other kids through phishing schemes and money laundering

by Arthur · December 30, 2022

Roblox is especially popular among young players. However, a new investigation digs into how these underage users are being scammed out of thousands of dollars by other children, some as young as 13.

Roblox scams: how kids are being scammed out of thousands of dollars by other kids
The investigation was published on IGN by journalist Luke Winkie. He visited various forums, Discord servers and subreddits dedicated to Roblox scams or as they call it, “beams”. Here are the most important tips from the article.

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Who is scamming underage Roblox players?

It turned out that many fraudsters are children themselves. For example, one of them said he was only 13 years old and claimed to earn around €2,000 a week.
When Winkie didn’t believe it, the hacker agreed to call to verify his age and even asked the reporter to share a link to his Discord name so he could “get more buyers.”
This scammer also bragged about spending money on his friends and buying an expensive gaming PC for €2,600.
And it seems that parents still have no idea what their kid is doing: “They ask where I get the money for everything. I just make excuses and they believe me.”
Another 13-year-old scammer claimed to earn about $10,000 a week. To prove his words, he showed Winkie his recent “trophies” – two rare items worth about $11,000.

What Schemes Are Roblox Scammers Using?

A fraudster is said to have written a tool called a “pin cracker”, which automatically de-verifies other users’ emails and gives them access to passwords, IP addresses and other user data.
Others use basic phishing schemes. They find young players wearing rare, expensive in-game items and then trick them into handing over the virtual items.
“You just have to be good with your words,” said one scammer, noting that it’s not that hard to convince underage players to click on a phishing link and enter their personal information.
For example, one young girl spent the AUD 240 she received for her 11th birthday on Roblox cosmetics. She then wanted to sell some of those items to get rarer, but was tricked into clicking a phishing link that gave a scammer access to her inventory.
There are even money laundering schemes that help clean up stolen items. Hackers use the RBXFlip website, aka “The Original Roblox Casino”, where two players bet their rare items, with a special algorithm that flips a coin to determine the winner.
The thing is, it’s impossible to track a stolen item once it goes through RBXFlip. So two scammers play against each other and then sell the cleaned items.

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Roblox is a constant topic of controversy. Quintin Smith of People Make Games released two investigations: one about the way the platform exploits young developers and another about black markets tricking kids into playing for real money.