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[Caayn]

Just go the following e-mail from Bethesda regarding my ESO account.

Greetings,

We are contacting you to advise you that the game key associated with your The Elder Scrolls® Online: Tamriel Unlimited™ account has been identified as a compromised key that was originally obtained fraudulently and then re-sold to you. Because of this, your account will be deactivated on Tuesday, May 26th. We encourage you to contact the retailer who sold it to you as well as your credit card company for a refund.

To continue playing The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited after May 26, you must either apply a valid game key or purchase the game directly from The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited PC/Mac Store to regain access to your account. All your characters, progress, and other game information will be retained, so after you reactivate your account with a valid key, you can continue your adventures.

We’ve recently seen an increase in the sale of fraudulently obtained digital game keys for The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Unscrupulous people engaging in this black market activity purchase Steam keys in bulk using stolen credit cards, and then resell them to unsuspecting consumers.

Fraudulently obtained keys obtained via Steam and then re-sold via third-party websites is a violation of both our and Steam’s Terms of Service.

We understand that your characters and progress are important to you, and your account will remain available for use once a new legitimate key is applied. To avoid unknowingly purchasing a stolen digital Steam game key for ESOTU, we urge you to please only purchase digital game keys for ESOTU from official retailers. Please click here to see our list of authorized retailers or visit our online store here.

I didn't bought a Steam key, I activated my key via their own website. Got my key from gamesdeal.com, payed a normal price for it ($40). Just like I did with some other games, never had any problems. This is the first time I got an e-mail from a company stating that my key is somehow fraudulent and that they will deactivate my account based on that.

Can they just do that, leaving my account deactivated? Aren't they the ones that should be dealing with the resellers not me, the customer?

 

[InsaneTiger]

If they believe the key to be fraudulent then yes. Your angst should be directed towards gamedeals.com. That name alone sound shady.

 

[NormalFish]

Can Bethesda just revoke my access like that?

Yes, absolutely.

 

[Lostconfused]

Games as a service. They can do whatever they want.

 

[komplanen]

Yes they can. You essentially paid for stolen/faked goods and it's not their fault.

 

[bomblord1]

looks like gamesdeal.com was up to some unscrupulous activity.

To answer the question yes they can. A fradulent key is a fradulent key. If you bought it recently do a charge back on your credit card and get a hold of the website.

 

[Nirolak]

They can do what they like.

It's probably not a great business practice for keeping customers, especially given the business model, but that's what the EULA setup implies.

 

[SigSig]

Don't support the grey market.

 

[hlhbk]

Just go the following e-mail from Bethesda regarding my ESO account.



I didn't bought a Steam key, I activated my key via their own website. Got my key from gamesdeal.com, payed a normal price for it ($40). Just like I did with some other games, never had any problems. This is the first time I got an e-mail from a company stating that my key is somehow fraudulent and that they will deactivate my account based on that.

Can they just do that, leaving my account deactivated? Aren't they the ones that should be dealing with the resellers not me, the customer?

They sure can. I have seen it happen in other items like this.

 

[Pillville]

If you buy a stolen car, you have to give up the car. I guess it works the same for Game Accounts too.

 

[Iorv3th]

I didn't bought a Steam key, I activated my key via their own website. Got my key from gamesdeal.com, payed a normal price for it ($40).

It may have still come through steam or another retailer through a stolen credit card. gamesdeal.com are the ones that screwed you over. Or I'm not sure how their site works, but maybe a 3rd party seller on that site.

Think we had something similar to this a while back about G2A or another game key reselling site. Were selling codes obtained through stolen credit cards and other means.

 

[theultimo]

NEVER TRUST KEY RESELLING SITES

G2A, gamedeals, etc. You have no recourse for fraudulent keys. Nuvemn, GMG, gamergate, are authorized and give you much better support.

 

[Phreakuency]

If you apply a proper key though, you keep your character and progress though, right?

 

[civilstrife]

How do these grey market companies generate the keys to begin with? Surely they must originate from Bethesda themselves?

 

[AuthenticM]

NEVER TRUST KEY RESELLING SITES

.

 

[Hip Hop]

You bought from the grey market, you got caught, simple as that. Bethesda can do as they please. I guess best you can do is a chargeback?

 

[MUnited83]

How do these grey market companies generate the keys to begin with? Surely they must originate from Bethesda themselves?

They buy it from a legit source with a stolen credit card.

 

[Hektor]

How do these grey market companies generate the keys to begin with? Surely they must originate from Bethesda themselves?

They dont generate them, they buy them either through cheap, offical retails from russia or from legitimate digital download stores using stolen credit card information.

 

[visiblemode]

Sure they have the right too, surely by their TOS...but it seems like a weird way to treat someone who got ripped off while in the process of trying to buy access to their game.

I know there are those who probably get these keys through shady channels etc, but can't Bethesda offer some kind of recourse for those who've seemingly been ripped off?

If nothing else, it's just good PR.

 

[Koren]

Yes they can. You essentially paid for stolen/faked goods and it's not their fault.

That's the immediate answer, but I'm curious about this:

Unscrupulous people engaging in this black market activity purchase Steam keys in bulk using stolen credit cards, and then resell them to unsuspecting consumers.

Steam keys bought in bulk to who?

I understand there that the keys were not faked, but bought. So someone sold them. Bethesda? Valve? The money from stolen credit cards were re-issued?

 

[hemo memo]

Similar story here when I tried to enter two inactive PSN US vouchers I bought from a small game shop. Now my US account is banned.

 

[Ikuu]

How do these grey market companies generate the keys to begin with? Surely they must originate from Bethesda themselves?

They buy them from regions where the games are cheaper, occasionally they purchase them from people who have used stolen credit cards to buy them.

 

[cameron]

Other publishers also do this, rightfully. Ubisoft/EA:

"A number of activation keys for Ubisoft products were purchased from Origin using fraudulent credit cards, and then resold online," an EA representative told us via email. "We identified the unauthorized keys and notified Ubisoft. If you are having trouble with an activation key, we recommend you contact the vendor who sold it to you for a refund. We strongly advise players only purchase keys from Origin or trusted resellers. For more information on our policy is available here: http://help.ea.com/en/article/should-i-purchase-my-ea-downloadable-games-from-cd-key-sellers/."

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...y-keys-purchased-with-stolen-credit-card.aspx

 

[Koren]

If you buy a stolen car, you have to give up the car. I guess it works the same for Game Accounts too.

If you buy a car from someone that bought it from a car dealer, but has paid it with stolen money, I'm really not sure it's the case...

 

[Messofanego]

I thought we had learned our lesson about key resellers...

Maybe there should be an official thread about which websites to avoid.

 

[Mengy]

NEVER TRUST KEY RESELLING SITES.

Yep. Most of us have learned this the hard way in the past....

 

[Caayn]

Thanks for the response guys. Will contact the reseller for a refund. Still find it strange that Bethesda would attack the reseller through their own users instead of going after the resellers directly. Now I end up without my game and possibly without my money back, thanks Bethesda.

looks like gamesdeal.com was up to some unscrupulous activity.

To answer the question yes they can. A fradulent key is a fradulent key. If you bought it recently do a charge back on your credit card and get a hold of the website.

Bought the key a month ago and without a credit card, so I can't charge back the money.

 

[uncredited male]

NEVER TRUST KEY RESELLING SITES

G2A, gamedeals, etc. You have no recourse for fraudulent keys. Nuvemn, GMG, gamergate, are authorized and give you much better support.

It is GamersGate. Gamergate is that other thing.

I feel sorry for the former because of this fact.

 

[Hip Hop]

Sure they have the right too, surely by their TOS...but it seems like a weird way to treat someone who got ripped off while in the process of trying to buy access to their game.

I know there are those who probably get these keys through shady channels etc, but can't Bethesda offer some kind of recourse for those who've seemingly been ripped off?

If nothing else, it's just good PR.

The recourse is that you don't get your character wiped after being diactivated.

I don't see how they can offer anything else more, it wouldn't discourage anyone from buying shady keys that Bethesda gets no money for.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Wonder why the Bethesdas and Ubisofts don't go after the sites selling these shady keys as opposed to people who may or may not be aware of the situation with these sites, especially when a lot of these sites are being advertised by Twitch streamers/gaming media sites.

 

[RipperGrim]

I just wonder how these websites are still allowed to run? Is it because they are based in a country that doesn't care or something?

 

[Memory]

Sure they have the right too, surely by their TOS...but it seems like a weird way to treat someone who got ripped off while in the process of trying to buy access to their game.

I know there are those who probably get these keys through shady channels etc, but can't Bethesda offer some kind of recourse for those who've seemingly been ripped off?

If nothing else, it's just good PR.

Its actually bad PR as it encourages more people to buy from shady sites.

 

[MUnited83]

Wonder why the Bethesdas and Ubisofts don't go after the sites selling these shady keys as opposed to people who may or may not be aware of the situation with these sites, especially when a lot of these sites are being advertised by Twitch streamers/gaming media sites.

Because allowing the keys to still work would be horribly fucking stupid and make those site's business even bigger because there wouldn't be any risk in buying from them and you would always get a key at the cheapest price without worrying about it.

Going after those sites isn't easy and they sit on a somewhat of a grey area legally.

 

[uncredited male]

I just wonder how these websites are still allowed to run? Is it because they are based in a country that doesn't care or something?

That is a big part of it yes. A lot of them register in Hong Kong.

 

[Hektor]

I just wonder how these websites are still allowed to run? Is it because they are based in a country that doesn't care or something?

I guess thats the case, since they are often based in Hong Kong.

 

[hlhbk]

Sure they have the right too, surely by their TOS...but it seems like a weird way to treat someone who got ripped off while in the process of trying to buy access to their game.

I know there are those who probably get these keys through shady channels etc, but can't Bethesda offer some kind of recourse for those who've seemingly been ripped off?

If nothing else, it's just good PR.

They have recourse. Go buy a legit key from a reputable reseller.

 

[Orbis]

Wonder why the Bethesdas and Ubisofts don't go after the sites selling these shady keys as opposed to people who may or may not be aware of the situation with these sites, especially when a lot of these sites are being advertised by Twitch streamers/gaming media sites.

Deactivating the keys will have negative consequences for the resellers, through customer complaints, credit card charge backs and word of mouth. The affected users are hopefully put off buying from shady sites again also. So this indirectly is going after the resellers.

 

[Pikma]

I thought we had learned our lesson about key resellers...

I thought we had learned our lesson about shitty game publishers...

 

[Koh]

Thanks for the response guys. Will contact the reseller for a refund. Still find it strange that Bethesda would attack the reseller through their own users instead of going after the resellers directly. Now I end up without my game and possibly without my money back, thanks Bethesda.
Bought the key a month ago and without a credit card, so I can't charge back the money.

Stopping the customers from going to shady websites is far more effective than trying to shut down a company only for another to pop up.

I bet you'll be more careful in the future. You might even share your experiences with others who will also be careful. Etc. You might feel slighted by bethesda, but they never got money for your code, so you really aren't even a customer of theirs.

 

[Mugatu]

I feel for you, OP but seriously, if you found something of yours that was stolen (I know it's not the perfect analog), you'd take it back as well whether or not the person who had it was the one who was responsible in the first place or not.

It sounds rough but this should be a lesson learned for people. Try contacting Bethesda, you never know if you can talk someone into helping you IMO they are in the right here.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I thought we had learned our lesson about shitty game publishers...

How is stopping continued game access from apparently stolen keys "shitty"? I'm sorry, but how is this the publishers fault and not the shop to blame?

Also, what Koh said.

 

[Head.spawn]

That's the immediate answer, but I'm curious about this:


Steam keys bought in bulk to who?

I understand there that the keys were not faked, but bought. So someone sold them. Bethesda? Valve? The money from stolen credit cards were re-issued?

My wife had her credit card number stolen before... we bought alcohol at a store, months later they were burglarized and some how those credit cards made it from NJ to Russia, and people started charging up digital goods to resale. All of this was told to us by the Police after they finished their investigation along with the credit card company.

To answer your question, YES. They absolutely reimbursed us for 100% of the money that was taken from the account, the overcharge fees and they might have even gave is extra money for the issues. Once credit card companies are notified, they generally go to work and do all the leg work to get their customers money back. Aka, refunds.

You are taking a risk going grey market. It's 100% your fault for buying from a third party reseller. Especially as a gaf member, you should be in the know and this isn't the first thread on this topic and the exact same outcome, even OPs thinking the company pulling their game should be lenient.

 

[davepoobond]

Game deals? Really?

 

[Zakalwe]

Email the seller with a screenshot of the message from Bethesda. Same thing happen to me with a GW2 key and I was refunded, bought it again from the official store.

 

[The Red Wizard]

Thanks for the response guys. Will contact the reseller for a refund. Still find it strange that Bethesda would attack the reseller through their own users instead of going after the resellers directly. Now I end up without my game and possibly without my money back, thanks Bethesda.
Bought the key a month ago and without a credit card, so I can't charge back the money.

Do you not understand how stolen goods work? It isn't Bethesda's fault.

 

[Maximus.]

Thanks for the response guys. Will contact the reseller for a refund. Still find it strange that Bethesda would attack the reseller through their own users instead of going after the resellers directly. Now I end up without my game and possibly without my money back, thanks Bethesda.
Bought the key a month ago and without a credit card, so I can't charge back the money.

Well its to educate the consumer not to buy from shady websites. It is the act of buying stolen goods. You are part of the problem that supports these activities and they want you to know that.

 

[KnockOneOff]

The digital online future man! Remember you have no control so your best just to bend over and take it like a man lol

 

[Hektor]

The digital online future man! Remember you have no control so your best just to bend over and take it like a man lol

Without the digital online future he wouldnt have been able to buy this game in the first place, especially not this game since its an mmo, yo.

 

[Teeth]

It's a weird situation because Bethesda can't really "go after" these sites because the keys that were bought were legitimate keys, they were just bought with stolen credit cards. So the keys are real, they were just obtained through nefarious means.

The present way to fight this is to ban enough of the keys that customers do credit card charge backs. At that point, the credit card companies are notified that the retailer is fraudulent so they will no longer do business with them. By denying them business from credit card companies, hopefully they will go out of business as less people are able to purchase from them.

 

[Minions]

It is essentially money laundering... they are just doing it digitally. Games are no different than any other asset whether it is tangible or not.

It seems some people are not aware that if you buy anything stolen it can be taken back, and you will lose whatever you paid for it. A car, watch, PS4 etc.

It is the main reason pawn shops try to be as thorough as possible. They have a huge database that they can check serial numbers on, and see if they show up flagged as stolen. If they are "hot" items they notify the police in many cases.