"GTA VI Alpha Version Out Now" Is a Scam, and No, It Doesn't Cost $225 To Pre-Order it

Anyone with a higher-than-average know-how about the gaming industry is able to spot these types of blatant scams more than a mile away. However, children and people who don't know much about video games, like unsuspecting parents, grandparents, or relatives who want to buy "the perfect holiday gift," could easily fall prey to these sorts of things.

The first appearance of this phenomenon occurred three weeks ago on Reddit when a prankster faked an online conversation with retail chain Argos in the UK. From the fake images, the prankster made it seem like the Argos employee had knowledge of GTA 6 pre-orders coming out on December 12, 2023.

Lo and behold, it's five days past that fateful date, and we have yet to see such a miracle drop down from Heaven above. Who could have guessed it was all fake?

More recently, I came across a website called "G2A" that usually sells game keys at a reduced price. Some of those keys are cheaper than official Steam prices because they could be from parts of the world where, for various economic reasons, they're more affordable. Some of them are legitimate, and some are fake, so buyers should beware.

But our seller of the day is "Zen_keys_network," with a "99% positive feedback" score from 564 buyers, allegedly. Under normal circumstances, that would fly under the radar, like Trevor's plane in GTA 5. However, when you see the "Grand Theft Auto VI | GTA 6 (PC) - Rockstar Social Club Key - GLOBAL" priced at $225 or $ 217 with G2A Plus, things start smelling more than fishy.

First of all, at the time of writing, Rockstar Games blatantly announced that Grand Theft Auto VI is only coming out on consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. This means no PS4, no Xbox One, and certainly no PC. With the G2A code being for PC, you can see how this whole thing comes in conflict with the fabric of reality.

Another post popped up on Reddit from the YouTube Ad section, apparently. User "PurpleStrawberry1997" took a screenshot during an ad that said, "gta vi alpha version out now" but also "download & test the gameplay."

They even used the GTA font or something very similar to make it look more believable. But wait, there's more! There's even a link with a very goofy and totally unbelievable website address. Please don't attempt to type it in your browser! You could get malware, viruses, or even hacked.

Now, whether this is a real scam or another forged "document" to stir the pot is a whole different matter. The image seems legit enough to be a fake ad, so to speak. But when you take into account other such occurrences, it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if this was also an authentic scam.

Things of this nature will only get muddier from here on out with Grand Theft Auto VI tricks. As always, keep an eye out for suspicious links, and never click on anything remotely sketchy. Especially if it's not on an official online store like the ones from Rockstar, Steam, Epic Games, GoG, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, etc.