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PUBG anti-cheating crackdown leads to arrests

PUBG-Mohawk

Fifteen people have been accused of using hacks and cheats in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and arrested, according to an update from PUBG Corp.

While PUBG Corp. have been working on adding anti-cheat measures to the game, they have also been working with local judicial authorities in countries where hacking games is illegal. This, they say, resulted in the April 25 arrest of 15 suspects accused of creating and selling cheating software designed for PUBG. While the update doesn’t specify where the arrests were made, it seems likely – based on the names given for several of the suspects – that this happened in China.

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Via PUBG. Corp’s update on Steam, here is a translated version of information they were given by the local authorities they worked with on the case:

15 major suspects including “OMG”, “FL”, “火狐”, “须弥” and “炎黄” were arrested for developing hack programs, hosting marketplaces for hack programs, and brokering transactions. Currently the suspects have been fined approximately 30mil RNB ($5.1mil USD). Other suspects related to this case are still being investigated.

Some hack programs that are being distributed through the internet includes a Huigezi Trojan horse*(Chinese backdoor) virus. It was proven that hack developers used this virus to control users’ PC, scan their data, and extract information illegally.

A cautious read of the information provided makes it sound probable that the arrests were made for the inclusion of malicious code rather than simply for creating hacks for the game, but PUBG Corp. is using the opportunity to warn players away from cheating in any form nonetheless.

“We take cheating extremely seriously,” they write. “Developing, selling, promoting, or using unauthorized hacking/cheating programs isn’t just unfair for others playing PUBG—in many places, it’s also against the law.”

Earlier this year in fact, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ Chinese publisher Tencent assisted authorities with 30 cases of PUBG cheat development, leading to the arrest of 120 people.