New Nintendo Scam Targets Players with Fake Emails

Penka Hristovska
Penka Hristovska Senior Editor
Published on: October 31, 2024
Penka Hristovska Penka Hristovska
Published on: October 31, 2024 Senior Editor

Nintendo is warning its fans about a wave of fake emails that appear to be from the company. The company reports that these fake emails promote unrelated services, misleading users to click links that prompt them to log in with their Nintendo credentials.

Anyone who may have entered their details this way should immediately update their passwords, unlink any connected payment methods, and if needed, reach out to local authorities for further assistance. Nintendo also advises users to enable two-step authentication or set a passkey to further secure their accounts.

Although Nintendo hasn’t provided a full list of spoofed email addresses, players are urged to be cautious with any emails appearing to come from addresses like no-reply@accounts.nintendo.com and to treat anything unusual as potentially suspicious.

While this is the official Nintendo address, the real sender may not be Nintendo.

“We have confirmed cases where suspicious emails are being sent pretending to be from our company’s email address (no-reply@accounts.nintendo.com). They provide information about companies and services that are unrelated to our company. These are emails sent by third parties with spoofed sender email addresses and are not genuine emails sent by our company,” Nintendo said in a statement.

Email spoofing is a technique scammers use to make their messages look like they’re coming from trusted sources. Typically, recipients can spot a suspicious email by checking the sender’s address, which often reveals if it’s genuine. However, with spoofed emails, the sender’s name and email address are manipulated to look identical to legitimate ones, making it difficult to detect the fraud.

Scammers use subtle tricks, like replacing lowercase “l” letters with uppercase “I” letters in email addresses, making the fake addresses look almost identical to real ones.

Those who come across suspicious websites or messages should report them directly through Nintendo’s dedicated support channels. This helps Nintendo address potential threats and protect other users from similar scams.

About the Author
Penka Hristovska
Penka Hristovska
Senior Editor
Published on: October 31, 2024

About the Author

Penka Hristovska is an editor at SafetyDetectives. She was an editor at several review sites that covered all things technology — including VPNs and password managers — and had previously written on various topics, from online security and gaming to computer hardware. She’s highly interested in the latest developments in the cybersecurity space and enjoys learning about new trends in the tech sector. When she’s not in “research mode,” she’s probably re-watching Lord of The Rings or playing DOTA 2 with her friends.

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