Rockstar Games cracks down on GTA 5 cheats

Rockstar Games is cracking down on people who cheat on GTA 5, by draining money from their in-game accounts.

The publisher is targeting gamers who use cheats, glitches or "mods" to boost their bank balance.

In a statement the company said: "We have removed illegitimately gained in-game money from player accounts.

"If you received an alert saying that your shared bank balance was adjusted, that is because you had illegitimate funds in your account."

Players on forums have reported losses in the billions, or trillions of in-game dollars.

It's the latest move by Rockstar in their bid to rid the franchise of cheats.

Since the release of GTA 5 in 2013 it's banned players from the game and taken down YouTube videos showing glitches, but it's not always been successful.

This time it seems the company is taking tougher action.

"If you are temporarily suspended from GTA Online, you will not be able to access GTA Online from the moment you are suspended," the company said in a statement.

"Your suspension expiration date is shown on the splash screen after being returned to Story Mode following an attempt to play GTA Online.

"In addition, your GTA Online character(s) will be reset. All GTA Online progress, property and inventory will be reset."