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With just hours to go before Rockstar Games gives you an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6), excitement surrounding the long-awaited game is reaching a fever pitch. The new reveal is due to land on Netflix tonight at 8pm BST, giving you more information about what to expect from the sequel to the hugely successful GTA V.

Rockstar Games has been gradually revealing details about GTA 6, with the latest extended presentation expected to give fans a deeper look at the game.

But that excitement is also creating an opportunity for cybercriminals, who are already using the demand for leaked footage, early access and downloads to target unsuspecting players.

The company recently posted on X, formerly Twitter, acknowledging the leaks and the anticipation of the longer trailer. The company wrote: "It would be an understatement to say that having videos of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leak in this way has been heartbreaking for our team, and this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time."

A hacking group called Cyberleek has already published gameplay clips, map details and at least one story cutscene online, claiming the leak was a protest against Take-Two's decision to ditch physical copies. With GTA 6 officially set to launch on November 19, fans are increasingly searching social media, forums and file-sharing sites for footage and other details that have appeared online.

VPN providers NordVPN and Surfshark have published separate investigations warning that criminals are actively exploiting the GTA 6 hype, with fake downloads, phishing pages, and malware campaigns already appearing online.

NordVPN's Threat Intelligence team identified a range of scams built around GTA 6 earlier this year, with the researchers warning that these campaigns tend to surge whenever the game makes headlines.

Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN, said: "Every time GTA VI makes headlines, leaked footage spreads through re-uploads, Discord links, and unofficial mirrors, which is exactly the environment where fake 'leak' downloads and credential-harvesting pages thrive."

Among the scams discovered by NordVPN's team were websites offering supposed beta keys — game testing opportunities — for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, only to trick you into signing up for paid subscriptions. Attackers have also cloned popular piracy websites such as FitGirl and DODI, using fake game files to distribute malware. In one case, the malicious software was disguised as an NVIDIA driver component.

Android users aren't being spared either. Researchers found a fake "GTA 6 Beta" app featuring convincing Rockstar Games branding that secretly displayed full-screen adverts and redirected users to websites associated with banking trojans and ransomware.

There have also been hundreds of scam pages designed to look like Rockstar Social Club login screens. Some were hosted on trusted services including GitHub and Vercel, making them harder to immediately identify as fraudulent. Credentials stolen through the pages were subsequently found being offered on dark web marketplaces.

Surfshark's research paints a similarly concerning picture. The cybersecurity company tracked newly registered websites using GTA 6-related names and found 212 suspicious domains had appeared by mid-August.

The number has grown rapidly over the summer, rising from around 100 in late July to more than double that figure within just a few weeks.

Of those 212 domains, 57 had already been flagged as potential scams, including websites promoting fake "GTA 6 coins" and questionable cryptocurrency schemes. A further 10 domains had been blacklisted by security vendors.

Perhaps more concerningly, many of the websites aren't actively doing anything yet.

Instead, they appear to be sitting dormant, ready to take advantage of the huge spike in traffic expected when GTA 6 launches or whenever a new leak or viral moment sends fans rushing online.

Karolis Kaciulis, Lead System Engineer at Surfshark, said: "What we're seeing is a classic brand hijacking operation being organized on an unprecedented scale."

There's another problem for fans who don't own a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.

Rockstar has officially confirmed GTA 6 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, but there is currently no official PC or mobile version available. That hasn't stopped thousands of people from searching for downloads for platforms the game isn't currently available on.

Surfshark's data shows that more than 7,500 people a month are already searching for PC downloads, cracked copies, or mobile APKs of GTA 6, despite those versions not being legitimate releases.

"Scammers are exploiting the console-only launch window," Mr Kaciulis explains. "Because the game is currently exclusive to the latest consoles, there is a desperate search for PC or mobile versions. Cybercriminals fill this void with fake 'early access' downloads and 'cracked' versions of the game that are nothing more than malware, or an opportunity to steal your data."

With the latest leaks gaining traction across social media, those searches could climb even further in the weeks leading up to launch.

How to avoid the GTA 6 scams

Both cybersecurity companies say to only download games and legitimate game content through official storefronts such as the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store or Rockstar's official channels. If a website promises a GTA 6 beta key, early-access download or a version of the game for PC or mobile, treat it as a major red flag.

Legitimate beta programmes and early-access opportunities would be announced through Rockstar's official channels rather than through a random download site or social media post.

Mr Briedis also recommends checking website addresses carefully before entering any login information. If you're being asked to sign into your Rockstar account through an unfamiliar third-party website, don't enter your details.

Mr Kaciulis predicts that if current registration trends continue, more than 750 fake GTA 6-related domains could exist by launch day.

He says: "What we are seeing now is only the beginning of the scam wave.

"When the game eventually makes its way to PC, we will see an entirely new category of threats."