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I got hacked and getting $75 charge per month and I reported it and you know what Microsft did to me? Microsoft screwed me over and blocked me from my hotmail account and my Xbox live account so there's no way for me to log in to both of them. So overall I had to open a new email account and create a new gamer tag. Epic fail.
Very interesting indeed. This happened to me this year, literally 2 days before I was moving across the country. My saga was not as long, but it did take quite a long time to rectify, which is good, because I have almost 80 XBLA games and certainly wanted them back!
Alright I keep hearing about hackers buying points and transferring them to other accounts. A quick scan of the Internet seems to indicate that this is impossible as I had thought. Is this point transfer a service that microsoft only extends to stolen accounts? What is going on here?
The more news outlets to air this story and shame M$ in the process the better for all. Its to bad the wrangle us with ridiculous ToS and restrictive licensing agreements but can't come to our aid when obvious violations have occurred.
I had over $700 worth of Apps and music purchased from my original iTunes account and Apple did nothing to get my money back. Thankfully my bank had a fraud department and I was able to recover the money, but because Apple has such atrocious customer service, they would not allow me to regain control of my account. All told, I lost access to the Apps and music I downloaded on that account and, based on the conversations I've had with Apple's fraud department, will never get that back.
Customer service generally sucks - the barriers to entry are extremely low. I'm never afraid to hang up or ask for someone else I can talk to.
While this is in no way her fault, I wish that she had not given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt (when she logically assumed "locked" meant she couldn't de-link Paypal). The moral of the story for everyone here is "never trust customer service" - always do your due process before it gets out of hand (as she ended up doing after the second charge).
@Dtomek
"A quick scan of the Internet seems to indicate that this is impossible as I had thought."
Well, yes and no. Something doesn't add up, but you CAN transfer points from a Family Account to other accounts linked to that family account. However, you NEED to have both family accounts linked to the same Xbox (which should have her serial number on file).
Unless she didn't link her Xbox (hint - you really should). Then the guy could have "recovered" her Gamertag to his Xbox, linked the family account, and transferred the points.
While this is in no way her fault, I wish that she had not given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt (when she logically assumed "locked" meant she couldn't de-link Paypal). The moral of the story for everyone here is "never trust customer service" - always do your due process before it gets out of hand (as she ended up doing after the second charge).
@Dtomek
"A quick scan of the Internet seems to indicate that this is impossible as I had thought."
Well, yes and no. Something doesn't add up, but you CAN transfer points from a Family Account to other accounts linked to that family account. However, you NEED to have both family accounts linked to the same Xbox (which should have her serial number on file).
Unless she didn't link her Xbox (hint - you really should). Then the guy could have "recovered" her Gamertag to his Xbox, linked the family account, and transferred the points.
@ dtomek
From the link -
Step One: Obtain username/password of account currently in use (I cannot work out how he obtains this information)
Step Two: Purchase Family ‘Gold’ Pack for the hacked account (this means he can now transfer points between the accounts he lists on the family pack)
Step Three: Purchase 10,000 MS Points (4000/6000)
Step Four: Create multiple (number unknown) brand new Xbox accounts (typically American accounts)
Step Five: Transfer all purchased points to these accounts (divide among multiple accounts or send full amount straight to a single one)
Step Six: Sell the account that has these points on to people, charging a smaller amount than Microsoft would charge for the points alone
Step Seven: Rinse, repeat, profitprofitprofit!
From the link -
Step One: Obtain username/password of account currently in use (I cannot work out how he obtains this information)
Step Two: Purchase Family ‘Gold’ Pack for the hacked account (this means he can now transfer points between the accounts he lists on the family pack)
Step Three: Purchase 10,000 MS Points (4000/6000)
Step Four: Create multiple (number unknown) brand new Xbox accounts (typically American accounts)
Step Five: Transfer all purchased points to these accounts (divide among multiple accounts or send full amount straight to a single one)
Step Six: Sell the account that has these points on to people, charging a smaller amount than Microsoft would charge for the points alone
Step Seven: Rinse, repeat, profitprofitprofit!
I've been reading stories scattered about XBL accounts hacked, robbed since that FIFA stuff. Thing is this didn't get any attention and Microsoft seems to be doing nothing so far..
PSN was cracked, yes, but I don't remember any account getting robbed.
What's the deal then?
PSN was cracked, yes, but I don't remember any account getting robbed.
What's the deal then?
And this is why I'm not going to buy Microsofts next system and will probably cancel Live after my current year is up.
(Well, that, and the fact that the adds take up way too much space on my dashboard, online gaming is free everywhere else, the only game on Xbox I care about is Halo, etc)
(Well, that, and the fact that the adds take up way too much space on my dashboard, online gaming is free everywhere else, the only game on Xbox I care about is Halo, etc)
@dtomek
I'm not positive how they do it, but it happened to me. Granted it wasn't this extensive, so somehow I fail to believe this isn't even a little bit hyperbolic but that's beside the point.
Basically it went down like this. I get an email saying I changed my password to my Live ID, one of those confirmation emails, and that someone added a new email to the account (since you can have multiples). I checked out the official site, and surely enough I couldn't log in, so I took the link and reset my password immediately and removed the back-up email the guy added. I changed the rest of the passwords associated with my Xbox Live account just to be safe. I then sent two emails to different departments of Xbox Live Account Services or whatever you'd like to call them, and made sure I put the help number in the second email. The next morning I had a reply, one being the traditional (no refund for purchased points bs) and the other one being a nice gentleman saying I'd be escalated to the fraud department with him openly admitting that this is an occurrence they are aware of and deal with. 24 hours later I had my refund without even getting my bank involved. Harrowing, I know.
I'm not positive how they do it, but it happened to me. Granted it wasn't this extensive, so somehow I fail to believe this isn't even a little bit hyperbolic but that's beside the point.
Basically it went down like this. I get an email saying I changed my password to my Live ID, one of those confirmation emails, and that someone added a new email to the account (since you can have multiples). I checked out the official site, and surely enough I couldn't log in, so I took the link and reset my password immediately and removed the back-up email the guy added. I changed the rest of the passwords associated with my Xbox Live account just to be safe. I then sent two emails to different departments of Xbox Live Account Services or whatever you'd like to call them, and made sure I put the help number in the second email. The next morning I had a reply, one being the traditional (no refund for purchased points bs) and the other one being a nice gentleman saying I'd be escalated to the fraud department with him openly admitting that this is an occurrence they are aware of and deal with. 24 hours later I had my refund without even getting my bank involved. Harrowing, I know.
And most irrelevant response so far goes too..... JOSHLPAIGE!!! WOOOOO!!
Seriously though that sucks. I have a similarly mostly unrelated story though. My Steam account gets stolen from me like twice a year and always takes a least a month to get Steam to help me reclaim it. I guess the moral of the story is that the people you give your money too don't really give a shit about what happens to your account. Because they still have your money.
Seriously though that sucks. I have a similarly mostly unrelated story though. My Steam account gets stolen from me like twice a year and always takes a least a month to get Steam to help me reclaim it. I guess the moral of the story is that the people you give your money too don't really give a shit about what happens to your account. Because they still have your money.
I had a similar experience with Microsoft. I had something like $90 in MS Points purchased using my account, and whoever did it spent it on Rift. I called Microsoft, and was told that since I still had control of my account, they couldn't do anything and that it was probably just best if I didn't keep my credit card info on my console. I didn't even get a complimentary gift card. Not to get off on too much of a tangent, but both Sony and Microsoft's general apathy towards their customers is a huge reason why I'm not sure what I'll do next console gen as I don't like dealing with the headache of gaming on a PC.
It may interest you guys to know that Susan is a dtoider and posts frequently on the forums.
She's one of us.
She's one of us.
@handsomedan
They do seem to be tarnishing the whole ease of use thing they had going don't they? Clearly they need more public shaming on cases like these. Time to go shoot a consumer rights blog this tip.
They do seem to be tarnishing the whole ease of use thing they had going don't they? Clearly they need more public shaming on cases like these. Time to go shoot a consumer rights blog this tip.
Ever feel "the customer is always right" is a dead phame of mind?
I mean consumers USED TO call the shots and be in charge of purchasing and services, but now it just feels like we're all kinda like the humans in the Matrix, you know, like we're wired up to cash extraction machines working for one man to earn money to give to another, being pushed around by both the givers and the takers, being told wha we can and can't do with the products we purchase.
I dunno man, but I kinda feel like we're all cash cows, literally treated like cattle with cash spewing udders.
Not a fan. Not a fan at all.
I mean consumers USED TO call the shots and be in charge of purchasing and services, but now it just feels like we're all kinda like the humans in the Matrix, you know, like we're wired up to cash extraction machines working for one man to earn money to give to another, being pushed around by both the givers and the takers, being told wha we can and can't do with the products we purchase.
I dunno man, but I kinda feel like we're all cash cows, literally treated like cattle with cash spewing udders.
Not a fan. Not a fan at all.
@Aurain
Yep - ladyelysium! Recognized the avatar on her blog. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do really, except spread the news of Microsoft's incompetency, so maybe they'll get wind of it and change their policies (or help her out).
She's asked people not to try and contact the Polish offender.
Yep - ladyelysium! Recognized the avatar on her blog. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do really, except spread the news of Microsoft's incompetency, so maybe they'll get wind of it and change their policies (or help her out).
She's asked people not to try and contact the Polish offender.
Well what-do-you-know Jim, yesterday you wanted something to write about Microsoft, and here it came! Perfect time I would say.
Jim, excellence in reporting as always. I wish I could get my local news with a sarcastic tone, but I digress. This absolutely ridiculous. After all the trouble Sony has gone through with its service, one would think MS might try to have a handle on something that is rather serious.
The Virgin Queen is an awesome person.
All the more reason to cant wait to go back to fucking PS3/PC.
All the more reason to cant wait to go back to fucking PS3/PC.
I phoned up Microsoft support once because my 360 got the RROD. The support guy spoke with a stutter. Nothing personal, but stuttering customer service???
YEAH?! But PSN was something something something tired old argument...
Oh what's the point of anything anymore?
Oh what's the point of anything anymore?
It happened to me as well. I called PayPal immediately and told them to reverse the transactions and stop all future payments to Microsoft. And people wonder why I don't pay for xbl
I've never had a problem with thier customer service. I've had my account hacked before, they got the problem resovled very fast, and gave me two months of XBL extra in return. The money was also placed back into my bank account very fast.
I've recently had to buy a new Xbox because buying a new one is cheaper and more convenient than paying Microsoft out the ear to fix their own buggy, piece-of-shit bricks
Thank you for following this story and helping me get the word out to other people. I've had my inbox flooded with emails from people who, like me, have becomes victims of this security breach. Microsoft need to stand up, pay attention to us, and get their act together.
Some of you seem foggy on how this works.
1) Compromise login credentials. 2) Purchase family plan and points with payment info stored in compromised account. 3) Add a fresh XBL account of your choosing to family plan. 4) Forward points to previously designated account. 5) Sell new account on Eastern European Ebay.
1) Compromise login credentials. 2) Purchase family plan and points with payment info stored in compromised account. 3) Add a fresh XBL account of your choosing to family plan. 4) Forward points to previously designated account. 5) Sell new account on Eastern European Ebay.
Out of curiosity, as I don't have Xbox. So, you only need login and password to gain full access to money operations on XBL account?
@Aequitas
Yep that was me. Microsoft should be more clear on their own site. In the faq that I skimmed it explicitly stated that it was impossible to transfer points from one account to another. Clearly this faq has not been updated since the introduction of family packages.
Yep that was me. Microsoft should be more clear on their own site. In the faq that I skimmed it explicitly stated that it was impossible to transfer points from one account to another. Clearly this faq has not been updated since the introduction of family packages.
She's just lucky that that the mogwai didn't eat after midnight.
When people you pay money to for services and they are incompetent and hurtful to you is the most frustrating consumer experience ever. (side note: Fuck you Canon camera repair warehouse in Virginia!)
When people you pay money to for services and they are incompetent and hurtful to you is the most frustrating consumer experience ever. (side note: Fuck you Canon camera repair warehouse in Virginia!)
Queenie is the third person I've known "personally" who has been affected by this. Maybe I'm the hacker?
Seriously, though, this is completely unacceptable... but not at all surprising.
Seriously, though, this is completely unacceptable... but not at all surprising.
@AkodoRyu - If you have a credit card or similar account directly linked to your live account, yes. That's generally considered to be a bad idea in general, though, which NO ONE should ever do on ANY service, not just Live.
PS - Not blaming the victim, btw. Just saying that from a general "self-defense" perspective, one shouldn't do this. Neither should anyone be using the same password across multiple services where any credit card or bank account information is linked.
No matter how secure the system in question might be, other services (where you use the same email address and password) might NOT be, and if one of those service's login info databases is compromised, the hackers now have access to everything you use.
No matter how secure the system in question might be, other services (where you use the same email address and password) might NOT be, and if one of those service's login info databases is compromised, the hackers now have access to everything you use.
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