Latest XBL Exploit Takes Aim at User's Credit Cards

[KeyMaster45]

Get ready, Steam is next...

And that's why I buy everything through steam using PayPal.

OT: This has been a fun week for news. First we have the PSN disaster and now they're hitting XBLA. Still that's pretty ballsy straight up holding someone's account for ransom. I wonder how many people actually pay the ransom to get their account back.

This news comes following Sony's recent announcement [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109568-Sony-Admits-Private-PSN-Info-Has-Been-Stolen-All-Of-It] that 77 million Playstation Network users' accounts, including credit card information, have been accessed by cyber criminals.

Oh for fu... Exactly when did "No evidence of, but we're not ruling out the possibility" become "has been compromised" ? No really, I'm genuinely asking this because the slow progression from what Sony's officially stated is really scaring people for no proper reason.

I think you may have missed this article. Sony Admits Private PSN Info Has Been Stolen...All of it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.279961-Sony-Admits-Private-PSN-Info-Has-Been-Stolen-All-Of-It?page=1]

 

[wooty]

Spreading like an epidemic this crap, makes you wonder how far people are going to go now

 

[The Sane]

warning Xbox Live users that their credit cards have been compromised

You make it sound like they are gaining access to credit card details through the game itself... but then just talk about physhing scams. I know you want this to ride the waves of the PSN debacle, but please try to a bit more accurate in your wording.

 

[DVS Storm]

Seriously what the fuck. PSn shit and this. I use credit card in my XBL account but I haven't played COD for five months so I should be okay.

 

[Wolfram23]

Phishing scams are nothing new... I get emails all the time about "blizzard account change notices" and even some people claiming to be randomly giving away millions of dollars if I just send my bank info. Hah!

 

[Jumplion]

Uh, what?

Since when does "Users may receive potential phishing attempts" equal "their credit cards have been compromised by hackers" or even "you've been hacked"?

Phishing is commonplace; the only notable factor here is that it's being executed in a relatively closed environment. It's hardly the same as being directly hacked, and it's not an immediate compromise of your credit card details; it only works if you fall for it.

I hate to be one of those people waving the "bad journalism" banner, but this article makes a lot of arbitrary leaps that look somewhat like an attempt to cash in on the PSN controversy.

This news comes following Sony's recent announcement [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109568-Sony-Admits-Private-PSN-Info-Has-Been-Stolen-All-Of-It] that 77 million Playstation Network users' accounts, including credit card information, have been accessed by cyber criminals.

Oh for fu... Exactly when did "No evidence of, but we're not ruling out the possibility" become "has been compromised" ? No really, I'm genuinely asking this because the slow progression from what Sony's officially stated is really scaring people for no proper reason.

Also, please explain how this new way of phishing counts as people's credit cards being compromised? From what it sounds like at the moment is that user score and the like are being held ransom more than anything else, because if Microsoft somehow lets Modern Warfare 2 access a Biling & Authorization system they've got some technical genius working behind the curtains there.

I'm sorry if that comes of as harsh, but I'm just seeing the wording of these stories putting people on edge for no reason at the moment.

It's really getting on my nerves to, these articles are making giant bounds of assumption in these threads and sparking panic for no real reason (maybe a good one, as everyone should be cautious, but still).

This is just a phishing scam, it's not hackers or exploiting code or whatever. This article blatantly contradicts itself when saying "Microsoft has posted a Service Alert, warning Xbox Live users that their credit cards have been compromised by hackers through a Modern Warfare 2 exploit."

And yet in the very next sentence

"Users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2," the warning reads.

Phishing =/= Hacking

Seriously, Escapist, get your shit together, and I say that in a sincere way. I'm starting to see a pattern with these kinds of articles, it's more of an editorial than a news site.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Wow. All of a sudden I'm happy I use my Paypal account for Steam transactions.

 

[luvd1]

Don't bother me. I've already blocked my card thanks to Sony..... Hang on. Both consoles? The bastard's following me! Time to move my gaming to the wii........ Perhaps not.

 

[Karloff]

Uh, what?

Since when does "Users may receive potential phishing attempts" equal "their credit cards have been compromised by hackers" or even "you've been hacked"?

Agreed. It's also odd that this is tagged as a Microsoft problem, when the quoted forum post indicated that the real issue was with Activision's database. Besides, if a cracker had your credit card details, why bother with a money-with-menaces-via-Paypal fraud when he could as easily just drain the account directly?

 

[Caliostro]

Is this "hack a system" month or something?

 

[Wuffykins]

Get ready, Steam is next...

And that's why I buy everything through steam using PayPal.

OT: This has been a fun week for news. First we have the PSN disaster and now they're hitting XBLA. Still that's pretty ballsy straight up holding someone's account for ransom. I wonder how many people actually pay the ransom to get their account back.

snip

I think you may have missed this article. Sony Admits Private PSN Info Has Been Stolen...All of it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.279961-Sony-Admits-Private-PSN-Info-Has-Been-Stolen-All-Of-It?page=1]

No I didn't. In fact, you'll see the exact words I used are in there as well, especially as the only thing linked is Sony's official statement on the matter. That article just then made the general leap that EVERYTHING was taken afterwards, which this article continued.

 

[Icehearted]

Almost seems like there's a full blown coordinated attack at work here. Maybe 'anon' could use it's super powers to find these turds and bring them before the people.

Spoiler: This is also why I only buy my points or whatever with cards at stores or on Amazon.

 

[Raeil]

Good God, Escapist. Please stop with the idiotic, over-spun headlines. The PSN has been hacked, yes, but you'll notice that they've specifically said that "there is no evidence" that credit card info has been stolen. Thus, Sony did NOT state that all of the PSN data has been stolen. With regards to this, it's a phishing scam, which does NOT entail "their credit cards have been compromised."

I understand you have to get hits on the site, but you're helping no one by exaggerating the truth here.

 

[Mxrz]

sensationalism getting a bit out of hand. Sony doesn't know if card info was accessed yet, and this has been a long running hack on the 360 and even popped up briefly on the ps3 when custom firmware allowed full psn. - Basically, it allows you to fuck up another players prestige, I've never heard of them asking for money to fix it tho.

Again, fuck these people and their defenders.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I knew there was a good reason for avoiding that particular band wagon...

 

[mjc0961]

Uhm, what? This doesn't exactly sound like our info was compromised. It sounds like some games were compromised and the responsible parties are demanding $10 to fix their targets accounts. If they had the CC info, why would they do this "Give us $10 and we'll fix your stats" nonsense if they could just take your info and go buy themselves some stuff on their own.

I think this author needs to do some more research and learn the difference between phishing and hacking. How you get "Microsoft has posted a Service Alert, warning Xbox Live users that their credit cards have been compromised by hackers through a Modern Warfare 2 exploit." from "Users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2." is beyond me.

Anyone who still supports hackers after this week... can... go away...

Anyone who thinks all hackers are evil after this week... can.... go away...

Let me ask you this, would you hate anyone who still supports the police after a week of stories about dirty cops? If you answered yes, at least you're consistent in your ignorance. But if you answered no, maybe it's time to think about why (which should be "not all cops are dirty just because some of them are") and start applying that reason to other groups.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

What the fuck is going on here?
How are both Sony AND Microsoft so incompetant that hackers can stroll in like this (IN UNISON) and take up shop in their networks.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I find this funny after all the Xbox fanboys trying to say "PSN is shit because it's free" and now there's a possibility that their personal info was stolen....on a service they paid for.

Wonder if it's the same people who got the PSN...