Stolen Fortnite and Minecraft accounts reportedly part of $1 billion black market

Everyone probably knows there are hackers out there who steal gaming accounts, and resell them. However, it is shocking to realise just how big of a black market there is for stolen videogame accounts. According to a new report, Fortnite and Minecraft accounts are part of a massive black market worth $1 billion.

Stolen Fortnite and Minecraft accounts

According to a report by Night Lion Security (via Bloomberg) the stolen account black market is worth an estimated billion, and yes, this isn't a typo.

• Read more: How to safeguard your Call of Duty account

Fortnite, Minecraft, Runescape, and Roblox accounts are some of the most popular in this online black market.

(Picture: Epic Games)

According to the report, hackers are using automated tools which can check 500 accounts per second. They then use this information to check login details from various data breaches to steal Fortnite accounts, as an example. 

The head of Night Lion Security, Vinny Troia, explains: "They can’t keep up with the demand for certain accounts. They resell it to people wanting to play the game with that account. Maybe somebody just doesn’t want to spend 100 hours of effort to get there."

Therefore, two problems are showcased; Hackers who steal the accounts, and those who want to purchase stolen Minecraft, Fortnite and other accounts.

So how much are these accounts being sold for? Well, a stolen Fortnite account, on average, goes for about $200 to $250, while some can sell for thousands, depending on how many rare cosmetics an account has.

• Read more: PewDiePie Minecraft account hacked as YouTube star is left confused

This is, without a doubt, a frightening report, especially with so many accounts being checked for security flaws every second.

As always, you should safeguard your gaming accounts for Minecraft, Fortnite and everything else by using two-factor authentication, never using the same password twice, and using a strong password.