Garena bans 543,000 Free Fire accounts in anti-hack crackdown

Ronny Rolim
Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:09:08 +0530

Over 543,000 Free Fire accounts were permanently banned after Garena intensified its anti-hack enforcement. See what changes for players now.

Players using hacks, modified APK files or tools that duplicate the Free Fire application now face a much higher risk of losing their accounts permanently. More than 543,000 accounts have been banned since February 26 after a large-scale anti-cheat operation detected illegal software interfering with the game.

The enforcement directly affects users running modified game clients, cheat scripts or applications that allow multiple sessions simultaneously. Once flagged, these accounts lose permanent access to their progress, skins and in-game items.

For legitimate players, the measure aims to stabilize matchmaking and reduce the presence of cheaters in ranked matches across the Free Fire ecosystem.

More than half a million accounts removed

Official anti-cheat notice highlights the scale of Garena’s latest enforcement against hacks in Free Fire.

The ban wave was revealed through official social media channels connected to the game. According to the announcement, 5,43,685 accounts were removed — a number format commonly used in India that equals approximately 543,685 players.

This represents one of the largest recent enforcement actions targeting cheats in Free Fire and Free Fire MAX.

The company confirmed that bans are triggered by automated anti-cheat systems that analyze suspicious activity directly from the game client and servers.

In practical terms: hundreds of thousands of accounts have been permanently removed after the system detected game-modifying tools.

Activities that triggered the bans

The anti-cheat system targets several types of suspicious behavior inside the game.

Detected activity | Consequence
Using hacks or cheat scripts | Permanent account ban
Installing modified APK files | Permanent removal from the game
Running suspicious virtual machines | Automatic account suspension
Using app cloning tools | Ban for multiple simultaneous sessions

According to the notice, app cloners and certain virtual environments often rely on software that alters the game client, which violates the platform’s integrity policies.

Why anti-cheat enforcement increased

The latest ban wave arrives after community complaints about cheaters in competitive matches. In highly ranked lobbies, players reported a growing presence of hacks affecting match results.

Maintaining competitive fairness is critical for the long-term stability of the Free Fire ecosystem. Automated anti-cheat cycles allow developers to detect and remove accounts that gain unfair advantages.

This means similar enforcement waves may continue whenever suspicious behavior patterns are detected.

What players should do now

For most players, the crackdown is expected to improve match quality by reducing the number of cheaters in the system.

However, accounts that interact with unauthorized software risk immediate permanent bans, including the loss of rare skins, characters and account progression.

Actions players should avoid

Installing modified versions of Free Fire

Using cheat scripts or external tools

Running the game through cloning applications

Editing internal game files

Opening multiple simultaneous sessions

These penalties are typically permanent and rarely reversed once confirmed by the system.

Anti-cheat monitoring will likely continue

The scale of this operation signals that Garena intends to maintain aggressive monitoring against hacks and modified clients. Additional ban waves may occur whenever the system detects unusual activity.

Players interested in improving their gameplay without risking penalties can explore resources such as recommended sensitivity settings or check updated customization ideas at Free Fire nickname generator guides.