We previously reported on a site which was trying to sell fake Battlefield 3 beta keys, whose owner had run other BF3 beta key sites. EA tried to take the site down with a DMCA claim that it was using BF3 artwork without authorization, but that didn?t hold up, mainly because the artwork is freely available (and is used by BF3blog, among other sites).
Our friends over at Battlefieldo.com did some digging and found several new sites that have been popping up around the web, all offering Battlefield 3 ?beta keys?, including:
- battlefield3cracked.com
- battlefield3betafree.info
- bf3-beta.com
- bf3beta.com
- bf3beta.co.cc
- battlefield3betakeygenerator.blogspot.com
- EA-Battlefield3.com
- dice.bf3beta.net.tc
- battlefield3-beta.net
All the sites feature one scam or another, trying to trick you into giving up your email address, or worse. A select few are selling direct access to BF3 beta keys, while others are offering users to download a BF3 beta key generator. And we imagine, a ton of spyware bundled with it.
The problem has reached such proportions now that we at BF3blog are getting emails from users asking us where they can buy a BF3 beta key, and if BF3blog is considering selling keys (!). Here?s a recent email we received from one reader regarding the issue:
Hey,
I have seen web sites where I can purchase beta keys and generators, are those official by dice and ea? Will you be selling beta keys in the future, as i would prefer buying them from you or can i buy them directly from ea?
We wish EA would take a look into this matter, as the sites are pretending to be associated EA and the Battlefield brand, and are ultimately hurting the game, its loyal fans, fan sites, and especially, the newcomers to the franchise.
UPDATE: there are now even videos giving ?tutorials? on how to get a beta key scammed. Like this one on YouTube.
