We reported a month ago that questionable eShop deals involving eShop codes, DLCs, or full digital games that are too good to be true in terms of pricing are slowly proliferating other platforms outside Facebook Marketplace groups like OLX and Shopee. You can read more about this modus by clicking on this link.
Sketchy sellers may use stolen credit card information or request for charge-backs or refunds after a transaction has been made. Since these purchases are now tied to your account, Nintendo can ban your console for fraudulent activity. Aside from this ban, the company can also revoke your Nintendo Switch Online Family Subscription meaning everyone in your Family Group will lose their Nintendo Switch Online access even if they were not directly involved with your transactions.
Nintendo Switch owner Gustavo Ichiba from Brazil gave Pinoy Nintendo permission to share his case so others might learn from his experience:
He was allegedly offered a download code for Octopath Traveller in exchange for his services to create a company logo. The code was redeemed on the 19th of September with no problems. According to him, the game was amazing so he was happy with the transaction at first. He even signed up for a Family Group with his friends when the Nintendo Switch Online service rolled out. On October 3rd however, he discovered that all his friends in the Family Group lost their access online and his account was banned.
He contacted Nintendo Support because of this and was informed that a payment issue related to the aforementioned Octopath Traveller game was the cause. Nintendo's Support Agent recommended to contact the person where he got the code from but he can no longer do this because he was blocked by that person. Unfortunately, Support wasn't able to help him any further because they needed info from the original code owner. They then suggested to share his experience on social media instead. He said that the agent was really helpful and friendly but he realized that this issue is beyond their current power without the account details they need. Brazil already has ultra high taxes on video games (as much as 70%) so he was disappointed when this happened. He did realize and regret his mistakes but he still wished that Nintendo could have just removed the game instead of a full account ban which also affected the rest of his Family Group. On the bright side, he is still determined to contact support once again to recover his account back.
You can read his original post below. He also posted an English version on the Nintendo Switch Facebook fan group.
We share the same issue with our friends from Brazil in that we do not have an official Nintendo service center in our country, let alone a dedicated hotline for inquiries. We can utilize their Support channels for the US but we can't reveal that we're from the Philippines since some agents might refer us instead to Active Boeki K.K. (parent company of Maxsoft). This is a dead-end suggestion because the aforementioned company only handles product distribution and has no access to Nintendo Accounts or Nintendo Network IDs.
You are always free to find ways to save money but is the method worth the risk of a console ban and other mishaps? If you want guaranteed transactions, always use your own accounts (credit card, debit card, PayMaya, etc). The same thing can also happen if you ask a friend to use their card (also known locally as pa-swipe) and they dispute this transaction later on because they forgot about your request and thought it was fraudulent.
Buy eShop Prepaid cards from trusted retailers like Game One PH / i.TECH, DataBlitz, Toys R Us, Toy Kingdom, etc.
If you wish to save money, trusted sellers like John A. from Kaizen Gaming are selling eShop codes for a slightly cheaper price compared to local retailers. Another option is to look for second-hand physical copies from buy and sell groups like the Pinoy Nintendo Marketplace and Nintendo Buy & Sell PH groups.
Finally, only join Family Groups of actual people you know in real life. If something does happen, you can at least confront them physically.
Thanks to Ivan F. from the NINTENDO Philippines group for the heads-up.
Source: Gustavo Ichiba
