Gaming Warning: Do NOT buy download codes that are way too cheap or from unknown origin.

[HNKii]

Those who did may have their consoles banned from Eshop (Error code:102-2815), have the games purchased with codes deleted, banned from online play, or have their NNID deleted, or a sum of some or all of the above.

 

[p1ngpong]

This is standard advice for any type of digital content not just eshop stuff.

 

[HNKii]

In China, all Wii U users who were banned purchased at least 1 download code at a Taobao store Shangwandianwan. The shop has now removed all its codes.
Most( I have not confirmed whether it's all or not) Wii Us that were banned were of the US regions. JP Wii U's are safe at the moment.
Also, not all who have purchased codes from that store were banned.

I am an US Wii U owner and I decide to stick to prepaid cards now. I have never purchased any download codes, and I think I'll never will.

 

[Taleweaver]

That's a pretty radical way of dealing with (I assume) stolen download codes. Do you have an actual news source on this? The way you tell it, it sounds like panic mode (or worse: false propaganda). You're sure no wiiu's were remotely detonated by nintendo, right?

 

[Foxi4]

Typical Nintendo, punishing its own userbase rather than the perpetrators. If you think for just 5 seconds you'll realize how ridiculous this is - you buy a game thinking it's completely legitimate, you intend to pay for content, not pirate it and you get screwed. Here's a thought Nintendo, if you know which codes were stolen, how about, oh, I don't know, removing them from your database instead? The codes only have value if they're connected to content, once that connection is severed, the thieves lose all their stock.

 

[migles]

This is standard advice for any type of digital content not just eshop stuff.

this....

on steam you can (or could, not sure if still works) hijack someones account temporary (enough time to steal tf2 items, but they increased a lot the security of this hole, and now if you reset an account you need to wait days til you can trade)
you could buy a physical game for cheap, give the code to someone (or sell it) them request steam support the account get stolen... then you had to take a picture of the phisical game with the receipt and a code writed with a pen..
then you were granted the account all you had to do was to steal the inventory and sell it to a banker or something like that..
sometimes when a person is not aware of the account stealed, they might think the account no longer works and think its gone... leaving the account for the thief forever...

i was stolen on the past, but not through this way, but found that this was possible and not that hard...

 

[OriginalHamster]

In China, all Wii U users who were banned purchased at least 1 download code at a Taobao store Shangwandianwan. The shop has now removed all its codes.
Most( I have not confirmed whether it's all or not) Wii Us that were banned were of the US regions. JP Wii U's are safe at the moment.
Also, not all who have purchased codes from that store were banned.

That store got stolen pre-paid cards? Or they were generating fake codes?

 

[HNKii]

That store got stolen pre-paid cards? Or they were generating fake codes?

Neither. They probably 'purchased' codes from Nintendo's website with fraudulent credit cards( I think there might be a term for that but I don't know). Nintendo can't charge from those cards and therefore banned those codes as illegal.

Only codes that directly redeem to games have the risk. Prepaid cards are safe since it is not yet possible to purchase the code of a prepaid card directly from Nintendo.

 

[HNKii]

That's a pretty radical way of dealing with (I assume) stolen download codes. Do you have an actual news source on this? The way you tell it, it sounds like panic mode (or worse: false propaganda). You're sure no wiiu's were remotely detonated by nintendo, right?

Source? Yes, but it is a pain to collect them since all the sources are posts of victims, just give me some time.
And for the remote detonation, some people in a WiiU forum in China rather believe that the're self distruct.

 

[HNKii]

Conclusion post made by Zoubaomi(A great contributor of the WiiU forum):
Source:http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3631818889
1，consequences.

A. Eshop unacessable.（Confirmed）
B，Digital games redeemed from illegal codes can no longer be used.（Some people）
C，Eshop of the 3DS which shares the same NNID is also unacessable.（Some people）

（'Some people' means that these consequences occurred on a number of users, but didn't on other users）

2，What caused the ban?

A，Using cheap download codes from Taobao.（Most causes）
B，Charging eshop with Taobao(*I think she means prepaid cards).（No clear evidence yet, might be a misunderstanding.）
C，According to current knowledge, download codes purchased before May 2014 are safe, since Nintendo didn't support purchasing codes online yet.

3，Console versions affected.

Most victims are US consoles, no JP region victims found yet（？）.

4，Time occurred

Most happened in the period of Feb 2015 to March 2015,but there are also cases of accidents since last August.

5，Theoretical ways of avoiding.

A，Buy digital games from Eshop directly or buy the code from Nintendo.com yourself.
B，Use prepaid cards. It is not yet confirmed that prepaid cards can cause bans.

Finally, convincing evidence of bans caused by prepaid cards are badly needed. I will also ask my friend if he bought a download code as well.
For those who claim that prepaid cards caused the banned, please check if you purchased any download codes during the same time period.

 

[Mario92]

Funny how I got G2A ad while scrolling this. Prime example where not to buy digital keys

 

[Minox]

on steam you can (or could, not sure if still works) hijack someones account temporary (enough time to steal tf2 items, but they increased a lot the security of this hole, and now if you reset an account you need to wait days til you can trade)
you could buy a physical game for cheap, give the code to someone (or sell it) them request steam support the account get stolen... then you had to take a picture of the phisical game with the receipt and a code writed with a pen..
then you were granted the account all you had to do was to steal the inventory and sell it to a banker or something like that..
sometimes when a person is not aware of the account stealed, they might think the account no longer works and think its gone... leaving the account for the thief forever...

Steam support more or less always require one of your first registered serial keys as proof that you actually own the account. A recently purchased gift would not be enough to steal someone's Steam account.

 

[Heran Bago]

Funny how I got G2A ad while scrolling this. Prime example where not to buy digital keys

Ad services often use the content on the page as well as the user's cookies to deliver more relevant ads.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

'Too cheap' doesn't always mean unreliable. I got Hyrule Warriors for £2 ($3) so not everything's a scam.

 

[HNKii]

'Too cheap' doesn't always mean unreliable. I got Hyrule Warriors for £2 ($3) so not everything's a scam.

How did you do that ?

 

[Duo8]

The eShop banning is rather recent. You used to only have the games removed. And prepaid cards are safe AFAIK.
I have bought some underpriced (~$20) codes before though (first one in October 2013) and nothing happened to me since.

Here's a thought Nintendo, if you know which codes were stolen, how about, oh, I don't know, removing them from your database instead? The codes only have value if they're connected to content, once that connection is severed, the thieves lose all their stock.

Yep. It used to be that. IDK why they changed.

 

[dauphin327]

I thought that Nintendo was only removing the games/content from the account but you could still make another Profile on the Wii U, they fully patched now?

 

[WiiCube_2013]

How did you do that ?

Can't say.

The game's not very good so I'm glad I paid very little for it or else I'd regret.

 

[Gifted1]

Kinda off topic but does anyone know if you can send Club Nintendo points to someone? I have 140 points left and there is nothing that I can get from CN so instead of my points sitting there going to waste, it would be cool if you can send it to someone.

 

[fischermasamune]

Kinda off topic but does anyone know if you can send Club Nintendo points to someone? I have 140 points left and there is nothing that I can get from CN so instead of my points sitting there going to waste, it would be cool if you can send it to someone.

You can buy a game and send the person a code. Sending only the coins/points is impossible.