Far Cry 6 beta emails are a phishing scam, Ubisoft warns

Far Cry 6 was announced in July with a cinematic trailer starring Giancarlo Esposito as Antón Castillo, the ruler of the island of Yara who also seems to have a rather complicated relationship with his young son. It was expected to come out in February 2021, but was eventually delayed to later in the year. Ubisoft hasn't announced a new release date yet, but it has confirmed that it is not—repeat, not— currently sending out invitations for an imminent beta test.

The fake beta invite was reported on Twitter yesterday by YouTuber theRadBrad, who said that it appeared to come from an official Ubisoft address and "even has an embargo with a special password for access." Attempting to access it, however, apparently installs some sort of malware that "watches your screen and records everything you do."

Details on the malware, and the email that's carrying it, weren't shared, but Ubisoft Support said that it is indeed a scam. "We can confirm the email regarding FC6 beta access is a phishing attempt. It has been reported," it tweeted. "Please do not respond if you have receive this email or similar."

Unfortunately, this sort of thing isn't all that terribly unusual, particularly with high-profile games that people are especially eager to play. A similar scam targeting Cyberpunk 2077 ran last year, for instance, and Epic warned of a Fortnite Android phishing campaign in 2018. There was even one tied into the COVID-19 pandemic . So this notification is a gentle reminder to be careful out there—a little caution can go a long way.

A Ubisoft rep confirmed that the company is "aware of this, and our teams are currently investigating."