The newest instalment of the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, debuted in March 2020 and offers a tropical escape at a time when anxiety and stress are high.
While the game is relaxing and offers dozens of low-key activities like fishing and gardening to enjoy, some players have experienced in-game scams that reduce their ability to enjoy it. These scams often start online in groups dedicated to New Horizons play, trade and advice. Players are promised items, Bells, DIY recipes or villagers in exchange for their items with high in-game value, only to leave empty-handed or having been swindled out of materials and inventory.
To keep New Horizons as it’s meant to be – a time to unwind and express creativity – players can benefit from learning about common scams and how to prevent them. With a collection of short interviews with scam victims and online research, the list below identifies issues players may run into while inviting others to join them on their island or while visiting others, and how to ensure every transaction is as safe.
On this page: Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Scams - Friends, Best Friends And How To Keep Yourself Safe Online
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Scams
Villagers "In Boxes"
One player in a New Horizons Facebook group was able to scam multiple people, including one fan who visited an island hoping to find Merengue, the pastry-themed rhino villager, "in boxes." When a villager leaves an island, the furniture in their house is replaced with moving boxes, and players from other islands can visit to convince the villager to join them instead.
The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said they contacted the poster privately and visited their island. After giving the requested Bells and items, she found that Merengue was indeed on the island – but wasn’t moving out.
The player said she’ll be wary of posts requesting private DMs in the future, as a refusal to discuss terms publicly is a sure sign of a scam.
Hemisphere Hoax
Caleb Haynes is a player from North America, and he and three other friends wanted to visit a Southern Hemisphere island to hunt for sharks and other special fish. They searched a subreddit and found a player with a reasonable request. Others asked up to 500,000 Bells to gain entry, but the group’s connection only requested they pay for a new bridge.
The group split the 228,000 Bell cost but quickly realized they were not located in the Southern Hemisphere at all, and were only catching Northern Hemisphere fish. Caleb said a player in his group contacted the scammer, who refunded their money, and that they were later able to find a new connection located in the correct hemisphere.
You might not be so lucky, so be wary of people offering similar trips.
"In Real Life" Transactions
It may seem wild, but sellers on eBay are asking cold, hard cash for items and villagers in boxes. Raymond, a new cat villager, and Marshal, a squirrel villager, are common options and cost $50 or more. While there are buyer protections in online auctions and there’s no way of knowing how many, if any, sellers will fall through on their promises, it’s risky to give a stranger money for a virtual villager considering there is no real guarantee for the deal before purchasing. The bottom line: don't buy anything in Animal Crossing using real money.
Bells For Credit Cards
Another real-life financial scam involves a series of fake websites designed to get players’ credit card details. A website claims to access Nintendo servers and generate any number of Bells for free. The site then directs users to another page posing as a video game beta group, which asks for credit card information.
According to one YouTuber, the link has been spammed on many New Horizons-related videos and could potentially lead to hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars in theft. These scams are common ploys for differing fandoms and some get taken down eventually, but it’s important for players to stay wary of new ones that eventually crop up.
Item Theft
One of the more common situations players report, such as in this Reddit thread, is general item and material theft during visits from others. While players may communicate with each other in forums before visiting, there’s no real way to stop another play from taking fruit or hybrid flower types. Providing the player hasn’t been made a "best friend," in the game, they won’t be able to dig up flowers or trees, so harvesting items will re-grow, but it can be more than a minor inconvenience to wait three days on a specific item for crafting.
Although it may be just a video game, virtual items and characters hold emotional significance for players, especially those playing during social distancing. Luckily, there are ways players can protect themselves and their islands, according to Erin Murphy, a moderator in a large New Horizons Facebook group with more than 10,000 members.
Murphy said players can easily build fences around shop areas or villager houses, effectively roping off areas with trees or flowers players don’t want taken. They can also create a small fenced area outside the airport entrance to allow for safe trading that restricts others from accessing other parts of the island. Murphy also recommends privately messaging Dodo codes, which allow players to visit islands without becoming Switch friends. This way, other users can’t use the code without a player’s intent, and the player will know which individual stole something in the event it happens.
Murphy said many admins and moderators from varying New Horizons Facebook groups are in touch, so while she said she wasn’t sure what consequences might come from filing a complaint against a player through Nintendo, group admins can take quick action to block and remove players who violate the rules.
Not every scam is preventable, but as Haynes and Murphy said, players can often take action after the fact. If fans are careful, they may never need to. With a little caution and knowledge, players can continue to enjoy their tropical escape free of worry and stress.
How to secure your island and stay safe online in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Here are some general tips of how to make sure a few bad apples don't spoil your island getaway while playing Animal Crossing online, plus a recap on what Friends and Best Friends can and can't do on your island.
General Visitor Safety and Etiquette Tips
- Only make people you trust 100% your 'Best Friends'
- Avoid publishing Dodo Codes online where unintended recipients could access them to visit your island when the gates are open - only share them with people you know and trust
- Don't share somebody else's Dodo Code without the consent of the island host
- Make any 'rules' you have clear to visitors before they arrive
- If you have flowers you don't want picked or trees you don't want shaken, fence them off entirely to prevent visitors gaining access
- If you're visiting an island, be extra careful and ask the host to make sure they're happy for you to shake trees or pick flowers, etc
- Accidents happen - we've all pressed 'Y' to pick up a peach and accidentally plucked flowers in the square beside the fruit. If this happens, be apologetic.
- Be nice and bring a gift! You native fruit will likely be greatly received, especially if your host is relatively new to the game. Iron nuggets will also go down well for friends who are just starting out.
Animal Crossing visitors: Friends and Best Friends - What's the difference?
In general, only Best Friends can mess with your island in a destructive way. Nobody except Best Friends has access to the axe or shovel tools while visiting your island, so their ability to 'steal' items or resources is limited to whatever you've left lying on the ground.
Action | Friends | Best Friends |
---|---|---|
Shake trees and pick up fruit? | Yes | Yes |
Pick or trample on flower heads? | Yes | Yes |
Pick up materials and resources already lying on the ground? | Yes | Yes |
Buy and sell items from your island stores? | Yes | Yes |
Hit rocks and harvest resources? | No | No |
Destroy rocks after eating fruit? | No | Yes |
Dig up and take flowers? | No | Yes |
Cut down, move or take trees? | No | Yes |
Drop or pick up furniture (leaf) items, clothes or wallpaper/flooring? | No | Yes |
Place (display) furniture items, or move items already on display? | No | No |
Catch bugs and fish? | Yes | Yes |
Dig up fossils? | No | Yes |
Donate bugs, fish and fossils to another player's museum? | No | No |
How to become Best Friends with a visitor
In order to designate one of your visitors a Best Friend, you'll have be visiting them or vice versa. The option to make them a Best Friend will then unlock via the Best Friends List 'app' on your in-game Nook Phone, so open that and select them to send or accept a Best Friend request.
This article is part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons walkthrough, which includes a Complete Fish List, Complete Bug List and Complete Sea Creatures List. If you're looking for specific fish or bugs, we can tell you how to catch the elusive Coelacanth, Mahi-Mahi, Giant Trevally, Stringfish, Golden Trout and all the Sharks and Beetles, along with a full list of critters leaving at the end of the month (unless you visit Kapp'n's Boat Tour islands, of course!).
We can also help with How to Spot Redd's Fake Paintings and Statues, How to Make Bells Fast, How to Breed Flowers, How to Get more DIY Recipes, How to Upgrade Nook's Cranny, where and when to find special characters like Gulliver, Sable, Label, Wisp, Celeste, Pirate Gulliver and Jack, plus tips on using the Star Wand, Tool Ring, Rock Trick, Cutting Down and Moving Trees, using amiibo on Harv's Island, How to Back Up Your Island Data, How to Time Travel, How to Get a 5-Star Island Rating and a whole lot more.
If it's new content you're looking for help with, we can help you find gyroids, unlock Brewster's café, use the new Pro Camera App for selfies, enact new ordinances, get the beloved Froggy Chair, and even learn How to Cook.
And finally, Where to Buy Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch, if for some reason you haven't yet picked up the game, and How To Buy The Happy Home Paradise DLC, too!
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Comments 24
"Real Life Transaction"
"Raymond on the sale"
Peoples have lost their humanity and sanity. 🙄
I haven't touched the online, it's certainly interesting what some people are choosing to do with it :/
@TheBigK Thankfully I think this represents a small portion of the player base. Most people I've encountered have been lovely.
@BenAV
Have you ever encountered with sad peoples like example above on your ACNH?
How do you deal with peoples who want to play on your island?
I can still remember my daughter in floods of tears after she invited some random 'friends' into her New Leaf Town.
They dug up all her flowers and cut down all her trees, as well as digging holes to spell some choice words out.
It was a life lesson, but a harsh one.
@Mii_duck
I just wonder why did they like to sabotage other people's town ?
Ruining people's town is like a bratz attitude.
@Anti-Matter Most people I've played with have either been friends, from this site or from a FB group and I haven't come across anyone troublesome. Everyone's been really friendly.
How to not be scammed in Animal Crossing:
Step 1 - Don't be an idiot.
There is no step 2.
Good things come to those that wait.
Yikes, I haven’t done much with online just yet but I better be careful. I’m gonna need more fruit eventually.
I don't think I'll even bother from here on out with online play. It's unnecessarily cumbersome and highly annoying. I went to someone else's island the other day who had posted on Reddit and as far as dealing with the owner of the island, it was a pleasant experience. She wanted someone to donate to an incline project in exchange for some flowers and fruit I didn't have and that transaction worked out fine between us.
But in the midst of trying to chat with her (which was cumbersome in itself), the game kept stopping to announce new people arriving on her island. It was completely silly and ridiculous. Just ass backward in it's approach
Don't pay for NO, don't get scammed.
I don't understand why people take this so seriously, treating it like real life money. I don't deal or DM to those who ask for things in return. I prefer to give willingly. If I have double of items I give to those on my friend list or sell. I can understand asking for Materials to help make stuff, time? hack, not like "you" making dozen of the same items like fish bait. Only at most some ask for 2 or 3. If more, sure ask a little token for the trouble.
Letting stranger to island and afraid of "your" bells tree? put fence around it.
Avoid playing with stranger or be very careful of playing online, that is all I often say to my lil girl.
People have been doing this kind of nonsense for as long as I can remember: I was a smart kid and never fell for them, but I played Neopets and Club Penguin and there were a bajillion "free neopoints" websites out there. I'd recognize these as scams in a heartbeat, but a kid or an adult who isn't computer savvy might not.
@Anti-Matter - I guess some just find it fun to destroy rather than create.
It takes less skill and intelligence.
1. Trusting any random person on a game is never a good idea.
2. It is important to always use your brain.
3. Don’t let anybody try to ruin your enjoyment of this game.
How sad of a person do you have to be to scam people on an animal crossing game?
@NintendoByNature
It’s really a sad sad state of affairs. Imagine being the scammer:
wakes up
hey let’s see what the order of the day is
Scams!!!!
@MarcusIsCool yea for real.
"Although it may be just a video game, virtual items and characters hold emotional significance for players"
If we are lucky, the Coronavirus will wipe us all out so the planet can start fresh
@rjejr
100 inerwebz points for the Wargames reference.
i like the Dodo codes. it is my favorite way of keeping unwanted people from visiting my town. it can even keep my friends away...lol (if only i had a friend or two to visit in the game)
and how do people fall for these scams? maybe its just me, but how can someone fall for these easy to avoid scams?
and if you were to purchase a villager, an item, or bells on ebay; how would you get the items in the game after making the purchase? Nook no longer offers to hear or tell codes (or whatever terminology Nook used) like he did back in the GameCube version of the game.
I'm not entirely sure of how that code system worked since i only used it to get bells and items from him. (another way of cheating for if you weren't interesting in time traveling) of course then you needed to unlock nookingtons before Nook would "offer" these codes.
Say you are a sad soul without real friends that have a Switch, what I would I´ll be missing if I skip Nintendo Online Services? And more specifically, would I be able to share and download outfit designs from the Community?
This article is inaccurate. When you invite players to your island they can actually pick up leaf items you leave lying on the ground. I know this because I visited someone’s island for a yard sale thing. And they’re not my best friends list.
Tap here to load 24 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...