Nope, all of them are registered under the same IP and domain hoster, which is just a hosting collector agency.

Of course, one would say this is not enough proof. But if you search on the content of their articles, you will also see that those are copy-pasted from the articles of other sites, down to using the same pictures.

Originally posted by talgaby:

Nope, all of them are registered under the same IP and domain hoster, which is just a hosting collector agency.

Of course, one would say this is not enough proof. But if you search on the content of their articles, you will also see that those are copy-pasted from the articles of other sites, down to using the same pictures.

Hey, talgaby, thanks for the confirmation! I'll add all four to the blacklist. The absense of contact information and writing staff on the sites also made me suspicious.

You can copy paste whatever notable sentence you find in a review into google and see what's coming out.
It's a good way to tell if reviews are legit or not.
I once found a website that was only composed of Steam reviews, and after asking, those Steam users weren't part of it.


Annoying, how those key beggars gives you more work to do, right?

Originally posted by Hibachi:

You can copy paste whatever notable sentence you find in a review into google and see what's coming out.
It's a good way to tell if reviews are legit or not.
I once found a website that was only composed of Steam reviews, and after asking, those Steam users weren't part of it.


Annoying, how those key beggars gives you more work to do, right?

Thanks man, that's a good idea!

Yeah, really annoying - right now I'm sitting at a 90% fake request rate and if you ignore the emails I received after paying for a PR package, it is a 100% fake request rate. It preys on genuine desires to share one's work with others. This whole key selling thing is absolutely disgusting. It is vile, loathsome and foul. It is - dare I say it - bad.

Heh, and you probably only know of those that are done in the open, like G2A. There are "stores" even under that level, and entire cryptocurrency-based operations below that, and those are still on the World Wide Web—I don't know if they go as down as the deep web. Kinda unlikely.

Don't waste Your time in those spam mails!
Send keys to (in Your opinion) good YTbers/magazins.

Write (answer) to scammers diplomatic note like this:
Thank You for interest in my project.
I will consider Your offer.
Please check my website for more info / free keys ;)

Add more adds on Your WebPage ;)
Focus on Your project.

Originally posted by talgaby:

Heh, and you probably only know of those that are done in the open, like G2A. There are "stores" even under that level, and entire cryptocurrency-based operations below that, and those are still on the World Wide Web—I don't know if they go as down as the deep web. Kinda unlikely.

I have to admit, it is depressing knowing that of the people my game is exposed to, some of them are the G2A types. At this point I'm starting to wonder if this is some kind of money-laundering scheme, because it seems awfully complicated for something so shallow. And it's sad, because if those people spent half as much time making the world better instead of worse, then how amazing would life be.

Fun fact! I've spoken with a few legit editors about the matter, and they're fed up with these ass-clowns as well. Every step the community takes as a whole to make key fraud more difficult is another obstruction to this "business model." Therefore, as tiresome as it is to blacklist these guys and report them to the people they impersonate, it is a useful and necessary step. A blacklist can never completely fix the issue - a blacklist is by nature reactive; so every time a new fraudulent email is sent, it is only caught after the fact. But for now, it is a stepping stone towards a smarter system.

At the end of the day, there is no action I can take to guarantee my success. But I will be held accountable for the actions I take. Some of those actions are the steps I take steps to encourage (through key spam) or discourage (blacklist) key fraud emails.

@ZygZag Thanks for the encouragement! Currently I've sent no response to any of the fraudulent messages. My initial emails to YoutTubers/magazines did not work. I'll have to give it another go soon!

That's nothing, I once found a scammer that faked an entire Twitch page.

Originally posted by author:

All of these appear to have articles, at least on earlier pages, but I can't shake my suspicions. Are any of these legit? Is this a new issue for key theft? And is there anything we can do to dismantle these fraudulent efforts if they aren't legit?

Yes usually it's stolen content, in the case of http://whygaming.be/, it's ours ( http://www.rpgfrance.com ).

Since we have managed to get him and make him erase all the content, he is likely to start again elsewhere.

These guys are...

Originally posted by 🐾 Sayuri Firebrand:

That's nothing, I once found a scammer that faked an entire Twitch page.

Recently one dude posted about a whole fake "game review website" which sole purpose seems to be to host a good review on one low-effort game, so they can cite that review on their store page and news post.