Crystal Dynamics, developer of Marvel's Avengers, is warning of a scam asking people to send their personal information for a fake job opening at the studio. Marvel's Avengers is known as one of the biggest digital launches for publisher Square Enix. Crystal Dynamics is also known for developing the popular Tomb Raider series. As an extremely successful game developer, it only makes sense that people would want to apply for a position to work with the studio.
Staying safe online can be difficult, especially when there are many scams lurking around. There are less harmful scams that only leads to a few dollars lost. For example, Fall Guys developer Mediatonic had to warn players of a fake mobile version of the game making the rounds. Ads on YouTube showcased Fall Guys being played on mobile, but it was obvious the footage was just pre-recorded and played on a mobile device. The scam's perpetrator would then upload an app to purchase, but the buyer would only receive an entirely different, poorly made video game.
Crystal Dynamics tweeted out a warning informing people of an ongoing phishing scam using the company's name. Evidently, a scammer is posing as an HR employee from Crystal Dynamics, offering people jobs that don't exist. The scammer asks people eager for the position to install communication applications like Telegram to discuss the job offer, hoping that people would be unsuspecting of giving out their personal information to a company as big as Crystal Dynamics. However, that would be a mistake that would put them at risk. One of the biggest red flags that the person is a scammer is if they request to use an application like Telegram, which focuses on encrypting messages to keep the scammer's identity hidden.
The tweet also includes a useful link to the Federal Trade Commission website, which provides information on how to avoid these types of scams. Most commonly, scammers disguise themselves as a popular company like Netflix, usually using the company's logo and design to mislead people. With the right information, scammers can access things like people's bank accounts. To avoid these risks, people should be aware of who they're giving their information to and secure their accounts through multi-factor authentication methods.
Source: Crystal Dynamics, Federal Trade Commission