G2A and Kinguin...

[Daveeede]

Just as a warning, I discuss some illegal topics within this thread so I understand if it gets removed. I do not condone theft, I am merely trying to really understand how certain the grey markets I have mentioned in my title work.

 

I was watching some random videos on youtube and stumbled across someone showing how stolen credit cards are sold on the dark web. I don't consider myself naive, yet I was kind of shocked at how easy it seemed. The person mentioned how buying digital media, such as software and video games was the lowest risk way of using a stolen card, since very little personal information is required. 

 

I then thought about G2A and Kinguin. Now I'll admit I've purchased a game here and there from G2A and always questioned the legitimacy. But the keys worked so I went on my merry way and didn't bother. I thought the keys were purchased for cheap in other markets or bought in bulk during sales. Now I remember there was a time where G2A approached LTT for a sponsorship spot, but was refused after some fans brought up how sketchy G2A could be. 

 

I guess my question is this: is there a way to tell which games are actually obtained through legitimate means? Or should we be avoiding these sites entirely? 

 

These seem like the ideal place for people to make an easy buck illegally. 

[dizmo]

Pretty much none of them are legitimate. They're all bad in one way or another, and supporting the platform in any way is still wrong.

[Semper]

Unless the seller discloses where the keys come from, no. Even then however, you have no way of validating when or where it truly did come from.
If the keys were purchased through illegitimate means, there's a reasonable chance they will be revoked, particularly if the owner of the card that was stolen failed a fraud claim. If you purchase a key and it doesn't work, there's a very good chance you just "confirmed" that you purchased a stolen key.

[Enderman]

No.

They could be bought with stolen credit cards, taken from bulk stock of companies, etc.

You never know.

Save up and buy directly from the developer so they get what they deserve.

[LogicalDrm]

9 hours ago, Daveeede said:

I guess my question is this: is there a way to tell which games are actually obtained through legitimate means? Or should we be avoiding these sites entirely? 

No. Only Windows keys sold on G2A need to be from authorized resellers. Beyond that, those sites have some point in ToS that removes them from point of responsible ones. Meaning that they don't condole sales of keys obtained by illegal methods. But they also don't verify origins of keys being sold. Not unless there's multiple reports on sellers shadyness or some other legal action taken against those sites. This is pretty much same style which most pirate trackers base their legality on. They claim to not condole distribution of illegal stuff, but at the same time don't do anything about it. Not unless they are legally asked to do so.

 

In theory you can see which keys are "only" bought from countries with lower general income and thus pricing. Or that are from hardware and other bundles. Those have slightly higher value, sometimes only $10 under general market pricing. But I would avoid any marketplace site altogether. And any site with bad ToS considering returns and other claims made by buyer (selling extra protections, having under 7-day claim policy etc).

[AbsoluteFool]

18 hours ago, Daveeede said:

Just as a warning, I discuss some illegal topics within this thread so I understand if it gets removed. I do not condone theft, I am merely trying to really understand how certain the grey markets I have mentioned in my title work.

 

I was watching some random videos on youtube and stumbled across someone showing how stolen credit cards are sold on the dark web. I don't consider myself naive, yet I was kind of shocked at how easy it seemed. The person mentioned how buying digital media, such as software and video games was the lowest risk way of using a stolen card, since very little personal information is required. 

 

I then thought about G2A and Kinguin. Now I'll admit I've purchased a game here and there from G2A and always questioned the legitimacy. But the keys worked so I went on my merry way and didn't bother. I thought the keys were purchased for cheap in other markets or bought in bulk during sales. Now I remember there was a time where G2A approached LTT for a sponsorship spot, but was refused after some fans brought up how sketchy G2A could be. 

 

I guess my question is this: is there a way to tell which games are actually obtained through legitimate means? Or should we be avoiding these sites entirely? 

 

These seem like the ideal place for people to make an easy buck illegally. 

The base idea of those sites are like craigslist. You sell licenses you've gotten in one way or another and hope for a sale. The thing is. Each license comes with a set of terms from the company that the license can be used at. Like Windows for example. You buy a personal license without right to resell or transfer the license to another license holder. These sites are pretty much the same as piracy.