Google search engine advertised scammers offering to play Starfield Open
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Google search engine advertised scammers offering to play Starfield Open Beta

Contrary to what many fans would like, Bethesda’s upcoming space RPG Starfield will most likely not have an open beta, although a recent Google search showed otherwise.

    Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks

Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks

portal PC gamer noted that when searching for the game on Google, one of the results was a sponsored link to a Starfield open “beta” that promised the opportunity “Play Now” (see screenshot below).

The prospect of playing Starfield now, four months before release, might seem overly tempting to impatient fans, but under no circumstances should you click the link – this is an obvious fraudulent scheme.

    PC Gamer contacted Google about a fraudulent link - it no longer appears in search results (Image source: GameSpot)

PC Gamer contacted Google about a fraudulent link – it no longer appears in search results (Image source: GameSpot)

As PC Gamer found out, the link leads to the website of the advertising company bizongrow, which in turn redirects the user to a portal with the suspicious name starfięld (note the e) and a “Demo” button.

Downloading this “demo” installs an executable file on the PC, which is definitely not a beta version of Starfield, but contains a lot of unidentified malware. On the trick got caught one of the users of the Reddit forum.

    Like dinosaurs these days, Starfield doesn't have an open beta (Image source: Steam)

Like dinosaurs these days, Starfield doesn’t have an open beta (Image source: Steam)

The website bizongrow was registered in early April and the fake portal Starfield less than a week ago (April 21) with a postal address in Reykjavik. As far as we know, there is no Icelandic branch of Bethesda.

Starfield is expected to release September 6th on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X and S, and Game Pass (PC and Xbox). As early as June 11, Bethesda plans to hold a Starfield Direct presentation that will tell you more about the game.

About the author

Alan Foster

Alan Foster covers computers and games and all the news in the gaming industry.

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