The Roblox and Fortnite “Free Items” Scam That Targets Kids Under 12
It starts with something completely believable: a message in the game chat, or a comment under a YouTube video, or a DM on Discord. “I’m giving away free Robux — first 10 people to DM me get 10,000.” Or maybe it’s rare Fortnite skins. A coveted item. Something your child has been wanting for months.
Your child knows Robux costs real money. They know rare skins are hard to get. And yet — this person sounds so certain, so casual about it. Maybe it’s real. What if it’s real?
They follow the instructions. They hand over their username and password. And their account disappears.
Why This Works So Well on Young Players
These scams are not targeting gullibility. They’re targeting want — and kids who play Roblox or Fortnite genuinely, deeply want the items being offered.
In-game currency and rare items have real social value to kids in this age group. Having the right skin in Fortnite or a well-decorated Roblox avatar matters to how they’re perceived by friends. When something they’ve wanted for a long time is suddenly dangled in front of them, the emotional pull is strong — stronger than the vague warning they might have heard once about “strangers online.”
The offers are also designed to feel plausible. Scammers mimic the way real giveaways are promoted. They use language that sounds like content creators kids already watch. They sometimes show fake screenshots of “previous winners.” To an 8- or 10-year-old, the difference between a real promotion and a fake one is genuinely hard to spot.
This is a global problem affecting millions of young players. Game platforms including Roblox and Epic Games (which makes Fortnite) have published warnings about account theft through fake giveaways, and they see enormous volumes of compromised accounts from exactly this pattern.
Why Your Child Probably Won’t Mention It
If your child falls for this and loses their account, there’s a good chance they won’t tell you right away — and sometimes not at all.
The reason isn’t dishonesty. It’s fear. Specifically, fear of losing access to the game.
Kids know that if a parent finds out they gave their password to a stranger, the likely response involves taking away the tablet, the console, or the game itself. So they stay quiet. They try to recover the account on their own. They tell themselves maybe it’ll be fine. By the time a parent notices something is wrong, the account has often been used to attempt further scams on the child’s in-game contacts, or sold to someone else entirely.
What the Scam Actually Involves
The mechanics are simple. The child is asked to:
- Log in to a third-party website (one that looks like Roblox or Fortnite but isn’t) using their credentials
- Share their username and password directly in a chat message
- “Verify” their account by entering login details somewhere
In all three cases, the credentials are captured immediately. Account recovery is difficult and slow — both Roblox and Epic have support processes, but getting a stolen account back is not guaranteed.
Some variants go further. If the account is connected to a parent’s credit card or PayPal, the scammer may attempt purchases before the account is recovered.
How to Talk About This Without Making It a Lecture
You don’t need to explain the full mechanics of phishing to a nine-year-old. You need one rule, said plainly, that sticks.
Something like: “Anyone who offers you free Robux or free V-Bucks is trying to steal your account. It doesn’t matter how real it looks or how many people seem to be getting it — it’s always a scam.”
The word “always” is important. Kids are good at finding exceptions. “But what if it’s a real giveaway?” Leave no room for the exception. If a real promotional event ever happens directly inside the game itself — from the game’s official interface — they’ll encounter it without needing a third-party link or their password.
Also let them know: if they ever do click something and feel worried, they can come to you and you won’t take away the game. The ability to tell you is worth more than any consequence.
One Thing to Do
Tell your child today: “Anyone offering free in-game items — Robux, V-Bucks, skins, anything — is always running a scam. Real games don’t work that way. If you see an offer like that, just ignore it.”
Say it once, clearly, without alarm. That one sentence can save their account.