Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Rockstar Games' titles, has been active in pursuing—and subsequently shutting down—scams that target fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Recent efforts by scammers have target fans of Grand Theft Auto by baiting them with promises of early access to a non-existent GTA 5 beta in exchange for their e-mail addresses and other identifying information. The scam, known as "phishing" is often used in identity theft and allows scammers to acquire personal information about unwitting victims.
The scammers have done so through a variety of well-designed official-looking websites, propagated and linked through Facebook and Twitter.
Although the publisher may have a difficult time finding these perpetrators by themselves, they have been able to get the websites shut down by lodging a complaint to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Take-Two Interactive's efforts have previously yielded the shutdown of scammers' websites including betagtav.com and getgtavbeta.com.
If you ever come across a website that purports to offer access to Grand Theft Auto 5, either in beta form or any other, just don't fall for it.
