Let's Have a Conversation About Buying Discounted Units
First, let's keep this conversation within the bounds of the forum rules. That means no mentioning anyone or any alliance specifically. I believe this topic really needs to be discussed between the community and the moderators and managers of the game.
Lately I am hearing a lot about the buying and selling of "discounted units" externally from the game. My understanding of what this is (which may be incorrect) is that a player will pay a "unit loader" outside of the game and give them their login credentials. The loader will then log in as the player and use illegally gained SIM card information from other people to make small purchases 1 at a time on that account until they have fulfilled the unit request, then had the account back to the player. These "loaders" apparently reside in countries where they can make unit purchases via SIM cards instead of Google Play or Apple's app store like the majority of us do. [If my understanding of how this is happening is incorrect, please feel free to enlighten me].
I find this very concerning. First and foremost, this is essentially credit card fraud, except with SIM cards. This is illegal pretty much everywhere, not to mention unethical and just plain wrong. Innocent folks have had their hard earned money taken from them by thieves.
Due to the majority of these transactions crossing international boundaries, it may be difficult for various law enforcement agencies to catch the criminals involved in this theft. I want to know if Kabam has reached out to any law enforcement about this and if they plan on doing so? I highly encourage you to do so.
Secondly, I am hearing that players who were caught doing this received only a 7 day ban. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it is all the talk on Reddit and Line this week. If this is true, I am very dismayed. If it is not true, I invite Kabam to use this opportunity to state their policy on discounted units and elaborate on how such activity will impact their game account. I would suggest nothing short of lifetime bans and turning over of evidence to local police jurisdictions. [Again, we should not be specific about which players or alliances may or may not have partaken in this]
I fear that if this is not addressed swiftly and directly, more and more players will utilize these services, which would result in more theft from innocents and throw the competitive balance of this contest out of whack. Beyond that, this game could quickly find itself in a money laundering situation as people load and sell accounts. I think that outcome could be the worst of all because I'm sure eventually the entire game would have to be shuttered if that happened.
Instead of having this thread devolve into a jumbled mess like so many do, let's keep it on topic. What can Kabam do to ensure this sort of illegal activity stays out of the game and to help bring the existing criminals to justice? What can the player base do? Are people okay playing alongside people who are stealing their units from other people? I am not.
Thank You.
