We are seeing numerous reports of Nintendo Accounts being illicitly accessed, and used to buy $100’s worth of V-Bucks for Fortnite.

Previously we reported that Nintendo of Japan had urged its users to use two-step verification, after “In April, the number of inquiries stating that ‘You have been unauthorizedly logged into your Nintendo Account and your credit card has been illegally used’ has been increasing.” (Translation: Google Translate)

Now, we are seeing more reports of western users suffering the same issues. Numerous users on Twitter [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] claim that their accounts had been accessed, and their linked Paypal accounts used to buy $100 USD’s worth of V-Bucks for Fortnite. Eurogamer also reports that “A Eurogamer staff member experienced the same thing on Friday.”

The accounts were allegedly accessed from places such as Iraq, Poland, and Chile. It is unlikely the hackers are using the V-Bucks for themselves, but likely selling the V-Bucks or accounts via websites not endorsed by Epic Games.

While it would appear a hack of some nature has occurred, Nintendo have not (as of this time of writing) acknowledged the issue in the west, or announced that any hack had occurred.

Both the official US and European Nintendo Twitter accounts tweeted on April 9th about two-step verification. However, neither tweet made any sign of urgency or there being an issue.

The news feed on the Nintendo Switch console also discussed two-step verification features for US users. It also lacks any sense of urgency, sounding more akin to reminding users the feature exists.

“It never hurts to be extra careful,” the news post reads. “If you want to supercharge the security of your Nintendo Account, you may want to turn on 2-Step Verification.” The post then describes what Nintendo Accounts, and 2-Step Verification are, along with how to set the latter up.

Whether there has been a hack or not, we recommend our readers change their Nintendo Account password, and remove any payment-based information from their account. You can find out how to step up Two-Step verification here [US, Europe].

We have reached out to Nintendo for comment.

Image: Fortnite Official Website