The best things in life are usually free - except for when it comes to FIFA coins.
Just a quick Google search reveals thousands of sites claiming to have found a way to generate ‘free’ FIFA 20 coins.
However, these coin generators are in no way linked to EA
Sports or FIFA Ultimate Team – and using one can cost you dearly.
The reality is that these sites are little more than scams which, at best, look to take peoples’ personal details, and at worst, steal your hard-earned FIFA currency.
But how?
New FIFA players will head to online forums in search of
tips to improve their Ultimate Team performance. It’s in these communities
where the scammers set up camp.
Their objective is to lure vulnerable people from the forum to a website that houses a fake ‘coin generator’.
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To get peoples’ attention, they will often state that a ‘glitch’ has occurred, offering a time-sensitive window for players to capitalise on ‘free’ coins.
Other sites will post a link to survey, which when completed, promises to reward them with FIFA currency.
Why does EA take this so seriously?
Between 2013 and 2015, Californian hackers Anthony Clark, Ricky
Miller, Nicholas Castellucci and Eaton Zveare created a FIFA coin generator and
were involved in a wire fraud scheme involving more than $16 million worth of
FIFA coins.
The then 23-year-olds were accused by the FBI of creating software that logged thousands of fake matches, tricking servers into rewarding them coins, and then selling the coins to black market dealers in Asia and Europe.
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Ricky Miller was fined $1.5m after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud against EA Sports, and Anthony Clark was found guilty of ‘wire fraud conspiracy’ over the same scam.
Clark had to forfeit a range of assets bought with the money, included two sports cars, an $850,000 house bought in 2014, and $6 million deposited in a range of bank accounts.
Play by the rules
Whichever
way they go about it, these sites all have something in common: they will
always ask players to disclose personal account details, and it’s here where
the damage happens.
Countless reports have emerged over the years of unsuspecting players
losing all of their coins, or having their top players replaced with worthless
non-rare cards.
And if you think EA will take pity on your claim, they won’t.
Their strict guidelines regarding FUT coins reflects their
strict stance is on coin farmers, stating on their website that “buying coins
damages the experience for you and other players”.
They also explain how illegitimately buying coins affects the player economy, causing prices of items in the Transfer Market to inflate and become unaffordable.
How to avoid paying the ultimate price
As long as you know what the rules are, they are pretty easy to play by.
Don't distribute Coins
We all want to help a friend out, but sending
them Coins isn’t the way to do it. Sending Coins to your friends is a form of
Coin distribution and it breaks the rules.
Coin distribution inflates the FIFA economy.
That means disrupting the safe buying and selling environment that legitimate
players are trying to use to get the players they need for their Ultimate Team.
Don't buy Coins
A few ways to earn FUT Coins are:
- playing matches in Ultimate Team
- completing Squad Building Challenges that have Coins as part of the reward
- selling items or trading players for a fair price on the Transfer Market.
Buying or selling Coins helps to create an uneven playing field because, among other things, it can result in an unfair increase in prices of items on the Transfer Market.
Don't connect to EA Servers using anything other than EA Web or
Companion apps or an unmodified platform
If you share your credentials with someone using a modified
platform, that breaks the rules too.
When you use these third-party apps and browser extensions, you’re
at risk for having your account information stolen by phishers. Your login information
becomes visible to third parties and someone could use that information to take
over your account.
Browser extensions can capture your passwords, track your web browsing, insert ads into web pages you visit, and more.
FIFA Ultimate Team can be pricey, which is where coin scammers come in
Don't use auto-buyers
If you use any sort of in-game bots, like
auto-buyers, so you can earn Coins fast and illegitimately, that’s breaking the
rules.
Making transactions outside of in-game,
Companion app, or Web app limits hurts the experience for you and other
players.
You can only access FIFA, FIFA Ultimate Team,
and our FIFA servers using an official version of EA SPORTS FIFA, otherwise it breaks
our rules. An official version is one that you bought from EA or an authorized
retailer.
Don't promote Coin buying and selling
Promoting the sale or purchase of Coins anywhere within FIFA games or forums breaks the rules. Coin distribution breaks the code of trust.
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Don't farm Coins or hack other accounts
Coin farming is when you get Coins fast and illegitimately, either by using bots in the Auction House or by tricking the game into thinking you’re playing matches when you aren’t.
When it comes to hacking, just don’t do it.
Play safe, now.
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