A faux ransomware gang has mentioned it lied when it claimed to have hacked Fortnite maker Epic Games.

A bunch calling itself Mogilevich had claimed to have accessed Epic Games information and threatened to launch its information until it was paid. However Epic itself denied it had been hacked, and now Mogilevich has admitted the rip-off.

Cyber Daily quoted a Mogilevich spokesperson who mentioned the group tried to trick hackers into shopping for hacking instruments. “In actuality, we aren’t a ransomware-as-a-service, however skilled fraudsters,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Not one of the databases listed in our weblog had been as true as you might need found lately. We took benefit of huge names to realize visibility as rapidly as potential, however to not fame and obtain approval, however to construct meticulously our new trafficking of victims to rip-off.”

“Now the true query is, why confess all this once we may simply run away?” the spokesperson continued. “This was carried out for instance the method of our rip-off. We don’t consider ourselves as hackers however slightly as prison geniuses, for those who can name us that.”

As Cyber Day by day factors out, even this confession could also be a lie. However what is obvious is Mogilevich just isn’t behind a hack of Epic Games or every other group. Certainly, Epic Games itself had issued a press release insisting there was “zero proof” Mogilevich’s claims had been legit.

“Mogilievich has not contacted Epic or offered any proof of the veracity of those allegations,” Epic mentioned in a press release issued to Eurogamer. “Once we noticed these allegations, which had been a screenshot of a darkweb webpage in a tweet from a 3rd occasion, we started investigating inside minutes and reached out to Mogilevich for proof. Mogilevich has not responded. The closest factor we have now seen to a response is that this tweet, the place they allegedly ask for $15k and ‘proof of funds’ handy over the purported information.”

Whereas this case is a rip-off, online game firms are on excessive alert after a sequence of hacks lately which have resulted within the launch of stolen information.

Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.