Home Gaming Play-start.com – Mass piracy with a friendly face

Play-start.com – Mass piracy with a friendly face

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Welcome friends, Romans and countrymen, gather around while I tell you a story about how I got defrauded on the internet over the past week.

Last week I decided it was time to jump into The Division 2 after reading this amazing review and being convinced by friends that they will continue playing after I buy the game.

So I browsed over to PlayStation.com and tried to buy the game. Unfortunately, as I’ve recently moved, that turned into a nightmare as my account is South African but my card and location is England and I was blocked from buying it.

So I headed over to Amazon to get a code but they only sold physical versions and I hate changing discs. To Google I went and I searched “Division 2 PS4 digital code” and the very first organic result was to Allkeyshop.com, a website that is sitting with a solid 5 stars on Trustpilot.

I clicked on the link and the page loads and the #1 offering on the site is for a company called www.play-start.com selling the key for €35.79. This is where I should have scrolled past but the cheap offering nailed me and I do know that people get free codes all the time that they then resell.

So I clicked the link, the resulting website looked pretty decent to be honest, I’ve seen a lot worse and it looked like someone had put some real effort into making a viable online store. So I continued and purchased what I thought was a code.

Then my confirmation email arrived and it was from g2a-pay.com. G2A is a site known for selling (allegedly) dodgy wares but by this time they already had my money and I was waiting for my code. It didn’t arrive, but it’s not unusual for a digital site to take a while to send a code to a new customer as they need to check the payment is correct etc but I was annoyed that I didn’t get my game until the next day.

I finally got my email confirming the purchase,
but it got worse, and I logged in to get my game and got shown this.

I’d not bought the game, I’d bought an account with the game on it. Now that’s dodgy enough to begin with and if I’d paid attention I would have seen that. However, the real alarm bells here are that I’m not allowed to modify the account in any way or make my PS4 the main PS4 for the profile.

So if Playstart were selling accounts with games, which is a very legally grey area, it wouldn’t be that bad as you would still own the game you purchased. However with the instructions stating you cannot take control of the profile what is actually happening here is that you are renting access to a profile that has the game, for nearly the full cost of the game.

I immediately logged a support ticket with them requesting a refund as this is not what I wanted, but after 4 days they’ve marked the ticket as resolved and have refused point blank to refund my money and take back their account.

I have requested that my bank reverse the transaction as I feel strongly that I have been defrauded here and we will see where that goes. However as a Public Service Announcement I thought it would be best to warn everyone that they are not a reputable company and to stay as far away from them as possible.

I’m also very disappointed in Allkeyshop.com for not vetting the sites they link to and subsequently Google for pushing me to Allkeyshop in the first place. These companies shouldn’t be allowed to blame algorithms and automated services for everything that goes wrong with their systems.

That all said, it seems to be an increasingly common thing. It appears to be more sinister than a quick buck though, with many believing that sales like this are a way to launder money. To put it at its most simple, it’s likely that these accounts buy games using stolen credit cards or otherwise illegally sourced money, and then resell – or rent – those accounts out, turning that illicit money into untraceable, cleaner money. This video by Ruskie explains how criminals use G2A and other dodgy resellers use video games to clean their dirty money.

So, in the end, I’m out of pocket, Allkeyshop got their click and ad views, Playstart got to defraud me, Google thinks they did a good job, and I’ve helped a criminal clean their cash. I feel like a right tool for falling for it, but hopefully, me making this public stops someone out there falling for the same thing in the future. And hey, if this helps them lose more than €35.79, then I will feel like I got some redemption for their arrogant refusal to refund my purchase.

Last Updated: April 4, 2019

29 Comments

  1. Yahtzee

    April 4, 2019 at 14:40

    Allkeyshop is a pretty big and well known place down in shady town.

    Reply

  2. HvR

    April 4, 2019 at 14:40

    Should probably add Playstation to that list as well enforcing arbitrary region locking for no other clear reason other than screwing over their player base. I’m mean you technically haven’t even changed regions just countries in the same region.

    Which is the final BS from PS that caused me to drop the platform and move back to the master race.

    Reply

    • Se7en Sharon Needles

      April 5, 2019 at 10:43

      Doesn’t it boil down to the payment processors? If you open an account on Steam in buttfuck Russia and you move to India, you have to jump through hoops to get your new indian credit card to work with your account.

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief

    April 4, 2019 at 14:57

    Dammit Gav you tool!

    Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    April 4, 2019 at 14:57

    Should’ve bought from Epic.

    Reply

    • HvR

      April 4, 2019 at 14:57

      It is 6 months too early for that joke

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        April 4, 2019 at 14:57

        Trev’s comment was funny, but your one was even more epic

        Reply

        • Magoo

          April 4, 2019 at 15:15

          Borderlands.

          Reply

  5. Gareth Runnalls

    April 4, 2019 at 14:58

    You should, at the very least, try to screw them over BACK! Whatever you were told not to do with that account… do it! Do all of it and make sure no one else can use that account at the very least.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      April 4, 2019 at 15:14

      xD

      Reply

  6. Original Heretic

    April 4, 2019 at 15:15

    Is there no way to change your PS account to reflect your new region? Or are the PS Overlords not keen on such a thing?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      April 4, 2019 at 15:39

      Apparently I need to create a new UK account and then transfer stuff over… which is stupid. So it’s a new PSN name, new email address… erghhhh

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        April 4, 2019 at 15:55

        Yeah that’s very stupid.
        I can understand them not just changing region based on an email sent to them, but if you provided official proof of residence in the UK (or whatever country you’re in), they should be able to migrate the account to the new region.

        For all the good things Sony does, sometimes they can also be downright daft.

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          April 4, 2019 at 16:12

          That is a very broad statement to make. But you are correct. https://media3.giphy.com/media/9uIms7Q88JyzjJqyTV/giphy.gif

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            April 4, 2019 at 16:12

            LOL what search terms did you input for THAT gif

          • Dutch Matrix

            April 4, 2019 at 16:12

            Broad.

          • Guz

            April 4, 2019 at 16:50

            Good god man, I spat out my drink when that clicked GGWP xD

      • HvR

        April 4, 2019 at 15:56

        Super stupid since AFAIK you can not even transfer anything from one account to another. You need to setup your old account as your family account and share the games with yourself.

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          April 4, 2019 at 15:56

          But can you protect me from yourself?

          Reply

      • schitsophrenic-toothbrush

        April 4, 2019 at 19:49

        Im stuck in the same situation (moved from SA to UK), I have to renew my PS+ sub in the SA store, if not then all the games I have obtained from the past couple of years (via PS+) will get locked once my sub is over and it seems I cant carry those games over to a new account. Its kinda shitty

        Reply

        • Tarisma

          April 4, 2019 at 21:48

          Yup I have to use my mother Ind laws credit card to pay for my subscription.

          Reply

    • HvR

      April 4, 2019 at 15:55

      Worst part is it isn’t even a new region, different country in the same region.

      Reasons PS gives for not allowing country change has been all moronic

      Reply

  7. G8crasha

    April 4, 2019 at 15:15

    I’ve used G2A in the past with no hassle. Although, now their prices are so close to what is advertised on Steam or other legitimate sources that I don’t even both much anymore. Unless it is a game I really, really want, I just wait for Steam to have a special. I’ve enough to play already.

    Reply

    • Yahtzee

      April 4, 2019 at 15:15

      I heard about this new Chinese based seller that popped up that is riddled with spyware and exclusives.

      Reply

      • Se7en Sharon Needles

        April 5, 2019 at 10:57

        I heard it’s getting all the exclusives.

        Reply

  8. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    April 4, 2019 at 17:28

    Why I still buy physical games in original packaging.

    Reply

    • Se7en Sharon Needles

      April 5, 2019 at 10:42

      Yep, in a digital future, you’re stuffed. I also only buy physical games.

      Reply

      • Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

        April 5, 2019 at 10:57

        By then i’ll be too busy to play games 🙂

        Reply

  9. Thats_How_I_Troll

    April 5, 2019 at 13:18

    Serves you right

    Reply

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