With pre-orders for 'GTA 6' just a day away, the anticipation is reaching a fever pitch—and unfortunately, malicious phishing sites are out in full force to capitalise on the hype.

Cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes has sounded the alarm, warning that a swarm of criminal websites are attempting to fleece users by promising 'VIP early access' to GTA 6 in exchange for cryptocurrency. Senior malware research engineer Stefan Dasic was blunt in his assessment: "There is no place selling genuine GTA 6 copies before Rockstar Games does," he noted, adding, "If any website claims otherwise, it is a criminal attempt to steal your money."

These dodgy sites are leaning on AI-generated imagery of neon lights and luxury cars to mimic the GTA 6 aesthetic, demanding a cool $250 (approximately 340,000 KRW) in Bitcoin, USDT, or Ethereum. Once you've 'paid', they'll prompt you to click a download button, but the game simply doesn't exist. Given the nature of crypto transactions, getting your money back is, frankly, next to impossible.

Even before the official pre-order announcement, we’ve seen a wave of these sites causing quite a stir. Security firm NordVPN has reported that phishing attacks and malware distribution disguised as early access or private beta tests for GTA 6 are spreading like wildfire. These operators are dangling 'exclusive' participation codes for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in front of users to bait them into paid subscriptions, while on PC, they're mimicking popular illegal game-sharing sites to distribute Trojans disguised as Nvidia graphics drivers.

The mobile front is no better, with fake applications pilfering official footage to spam incessant ads, all while masquerading as authentication portals to trick you into signing up for paid services or installing further malware. We've even spotted phishing sites hosted on legitimate platforms like GitHub that use spoofed login pages to harvest your account credentials.

Let's be clear: official pre-orders for GTA 6 don't kick off until June 25th, and there are absolutely no official early access or private beta tests currently in progress. Security experts are urging everyone to stick strictly to official platforms for game content and to steer well clear of anything asking for crypto or offering shady installation files. Stay safe out there.