Xbox LIVE hack doing the rounds

[Panorama]

If it is only Fifa 12 dlc how can it have been happening in may i though it only came out like last month, im not really a fan of the series. I like football just not virtual football. Oh but it really doesn't rule out American at all most people i have played against on live are American (all seemed to want to be Man U,not sure why).

 

[imnot]

They spent your money on fifa!
Thats like self harm!

 

[hutchy27]

I only got 400 points on so I'll go check, I took off my credit card details awhile ago because it wouldn't let me cancel my automatic gold membership so I had to phone up to do make my account silver to then put on a year xbox live.

 

[Fiad]

And this is why I never put any details on my accounts. If I want to buy some DLC, I will go get a point card for the exact amount I need, spend it immediately.

 

[Idsertian]

If it is only Fifa 12 dlc how can it have been happening in may i though it only came out like last month, im not really a fan of the series. I like football just not virtual football. Oh but it really doesn't rule out American at all most people i have played against on live are American (all seemed to want to be Man U,not sure why).

If it has been happening that far back, it will obviously have been with another game. Probably FIFA 11. -_-

They spent your money on fifa!
Thats like self harm!

I lol'd. Fancy a cookie?

 

[tippy2k2]

Mine was h4x0r3d too, which made me ever so sad, though I only lost 960 Microsoft points since my credit card on there doesn't work.

However, I don't think Xbox is the one getting hacked. With the random and minimal damage (few people are getting this problem compared to the amount of Xbox users), I was thinking that they are getting usernames and passwords from little websites (for example, if my email for the Escapist and Xbox Live are the same) and then using the passwords they fish on the 360.

So for example, my email [email protected] and password ilovejustinbieber get taken from fakewebsite.com. They stick that email and the password into Xbox Live, knowing that most people don't use multiple passwords. It works every so often, they smash and grab and Tippy2k2 is sad because his money went away.

Damn it! I just gave my password up, now I'm going to have to go change it again!

 

[Robert Ewing]

I'm afraid stages like this is prime rib stylie for most hackers. It's a time when people are at their most vulnerable, when the product they are trying is full of holes, and the system is full of holes.

 

[Der_Bradly]

So... I looked this up online. Apparently this happens especially to people who have played the Battlefield 3 Beta...

While There are some whose account was hacked without playing the beta, An almost eerie similarity between hacked accounts in that those hacked played the BF3 beta.

So, dont play the Beta.

 

[Roxas1359]

I check my account now. I don't have a credit card on my 360, never did, but I did have a couple of points. By a couple I mean 30.
Oh no, I might lose 30 whole points.

 

[RatRace123]

Oh, thank god I have no points and I don't have a listed credit card attached to my account.
After the PSN hack I've been extra careful with putting any card info online.
Still, this is the first I've heard about it, thanks for the warning. I swear if this turns out to be another hack job I will demand to see heads on spikes as punishment for this.
I'll do it myself if it doesn't get done.

 

[DRes82]

Thanks for the heads up. Went to cancel my recurring membership and take off my credit card. Didn't realize how difficult microsoft had made it to do so. Switched it over to paypal for now.

 

[Arluza]

This happened to me when I tried to get on to do Dark Souls. Had to call them to do a check on this. lost 2000 MSP.

 

[viranimus]

Wait hold on here. Where exactly is the evidence that XBL has been hacked. Between this thread and the OP linked threads there is ZERO evidence that XBL has been hacked.

No what there is evidence of is failed password security and/or cracked passwords.

Sorry to get somewhat nazi-ish about the usage but there is a reason. When you say hack, people think of hackers. However when you say hack when you mean crack, people still think of hackers and that is inappropriately assigning blame on the wrong group of people.

Sort of like calling a puerto rican a mexican. They "might" share some traits such as skin tone or language, but they are two completely separate and distinct things.

 

[WeAreStevo]

Seems like such an odd thing to do simply to play some Fifa...

I don't suppose they found a way to off load the points onto their own account...

Otherwise, I mean, what's the point besides being the worlds biggest cock?

 

[drumguy818]

see, this is why fanboys need to keep their mouths shut. 10 bucks this hacker/group of hackers were PS3 fans who got pissed at the Xbox fans making fun of the PSN hack and wanting to prove that Microsoft was just as vulnerable. Not trying to justify it at all, but you guys kinda had it coming, and I'm sorry for the Live users that didn't make fun of the PSN hack. I bet they're coming up with a way to make a full on network for the Wii just to hack it...

 

[Epicspoon]

this is why I only buy prepaid cards and only buy them if I know what I'm getting already. furthermore I buy dlc codes when I get the chance instead of the prepaid cards.

 

[Roxas1359]

Great, the same sort of thing just happened to the PSN. I actually have some money on my account too!*sigh*
I wonder if the Wii will get hit?

see, this is why fanboys need to keep their mouths shut. 10 bucks this hacker/group of hackers were PS3 fans who got pissed at the Xbox fans making fun of the PSN hack and wanting to prove that Microsoft was just as vulnerable. Not trying to justify it at all, but you guys kinda had it coming, and I'm sorry for the Live users that didn't make fun of the PSN hack. I bet they're coming up with a way to make a full on network for the Wii just to hack it...

I believe your theory has a few flaws in it. Mainly the fact that PSN has Benny comprised just about an hour ago.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

This has been going on at least since the back end of last month, and Microsoft don't seem to be doing much about it except on a reactionary level. I.e. nothing gets done until customers phone and complain about their accounts getting hacked. It seems there's absolutely nothing you can do about your account getting jacked, as I have read reports of people spotting the unauthorised purchases and nabbing their account back, changing their password, only to have their account re-jacked in minutes.

This suggests to me that whoever is doing this, has a major door-jam holding open a backdoor to LIVE's database somewhere. What boggles my mind is this has been going on for at least a couple of weeks now and nothing has been done to try and combat it. MS haven't even tried warning customers that this is going on, keeping it all very hush hush. This smacks of the PSN hack a few months ago and the way this is going, it certainly is almost at the same level.

You give them far too much credit. If the account is getting re-hacked minutes after changing the password then it's more likely they've hacked your e-mail account than busted through Microsoft's defenses, plus you've probably got a virus, most likely a keylogger, that's allowing them to keep breaking into your stuff. When an account gets hacked it's usually because the user inadvertently at some point did something that gave them access. Phishing e-mails are usually a prime suspect, and some of them are damned convincing to.(most are utter crap that you'd be a fool to fall for though)

The point is that the hackers don't have some terrifying foot in Microsoft's back door. They prefer to walk right through the front gates. Run a thorough check of your computer, change the passwords on your e-mail account(s), and then only when you're sure you've neutralized the threat, change the password and e-mail association on your XBL account. My advice is to set up a separate e-mail account specifically for your XBL stuff, use it for nothing else. It's literally the most fool proof way to avoid them getting your info via a hacked e-mail account.

Basically this, but it's probably something even simpler, like the OP having used login information that matches up to his live account on a third party website which was either hacked or (more likely) a phishing site to begin with. This kind of thing happens all the time, and people tend to way overestimate what the "hackers" have to actually do to get in. It reminds me of all the "OMG, you just got hacked!!!11!!" BS that happens on Facebook anytime somone A.) leaves a window open with their account already logged in, allowing the next person to post something stupid under their name, if they so desire, or B.) falls for a clickjacking scam (we've all done it. Some of the ways they hide those "Like" buttons are pretty ingenious), and instead of realizing that literally the only thing that has happened is they "Liked" a page, which had some pre-written spam message that goes out every time someone likes it, they freak out, thinking their account has been in some way compromised. I'll admit, I was worried too -- the first time it happened to me, over two years ago. Of course, back then (pre-like buttons on external sites) it was actually rogue Facebook apps doing some pretty malicious crap; the way it works now, it really harms nothing -- at least no moreso than people reposting stupid chain letters.

 

[Hisshiss]

Every thread about this makes me feel a little bit better, because on semptember 9th, my account got cracked into, they charged about 150 bucks in worth of microsoft points, about 10,000, and played some fuckin Fifa. I reported it the day it happened, they suspended the account and whatnot, and just have not heard a word from microsoft since. Its been an insane pain in the ass, especially since my best friend is in town for just a few more weeks and we havnt gotten to play live together in years (His home away from home doesnt really afford him the time to game because of how the household works.), so Im gonna miss that bonding experience if this doesn't wrap up. On top of that, my moms credit card was on the account from god knows how many years ago, as Ive been using my own for atleast a good 24 months, so shes now down 150 bucks that microsoft is clearly in no rush to refund.

All in all, Im just glad this isn't an isolated event, it means that other people will actually understand what Im talking about, and gives me a tiny bit of faith that MS customer support isnt just this bad all the time.

I just want it to be over -.-. Ive had gears of war 3 for atleast 2 damn weeks, and I still havn't gotten to play it with anyone else, or input the vast pile of frikkin DLC codes Im just praying will still work when this is all sorted out.

Edit: One of the things that creeped me out is that I have never mentioned my windows live ID to anyone, and I know for I fact I have never logged onto the account from any computer ever, it was made on my xbox, and its been logged onto with my xbox for the roughly 5 years Ive had that profile.

And on that note, I want my 40 thousand gamerscore, and hundreds of dollars worth of game licenses on that profile back xD. If it wasn't for that stuff I would just start over for all the trouble this caused me. It's a mixture of anticipation and just plain fear, because the general time the recovery process seems to fit into is 25 to 30 days, which is what they told me on the phone as well, but alot of people insist that it can drag well into 2 to 3 months. which isn't gonna work, If we get into mid november and my live isn't back up, Im breaking a piggy bank open and jumping ship to PS3, because I am not missing dungeon defenders, Skyrim, and saints row the third xD. This isn't a fanboy comment, I really just cannot be down an online profile and whatnot for another high profile launch, being knocked totally offline for gears 3 fucked my social life man xD. My friend's were not merciful about my situation. The 30 day range ended a few days ago anyways, as my account was breached and reported on the 9th of september as stated above. So in a just world, its any day now...as if.

Same thing happened to me! Except I had the 150 dollars taken from MY bank account (couldn't get fucking lunch Sunday, and I HATE having to tell them that I can't buy the delicious food infron of me)mine happened Sept. 5th I believe.

I got my money back 4 days after calling them though which was a godsend. I have still yet to hear back from them on the new email I made for them to contact me at and I don't have access to my account still.

Im gonna have to end up calling them again though to cancel an auto renewing membership thing (FFS Microsoft) I made for a new account so I wouldn't be balls bored. Ill ask them today what the ever-loving FUCK is going on with my damn account.

I had a sudden surge of hope when you mentioned that secondary Email they make you create, as I hadn't remembered to check it until now, but sadly not a word v.v. And that sucks about the bank account xD. I probly would have been robbed myself, but my card only had 20 bucks in it at the time, so he most likely just passed right over it. Im planning on pestering them this friday as well, since its been over 35 days since I reported it, which I think puts me in bitchy customer range.

 

[Rad Party God]

Good thing I spent all my MS Points back when I still had an Xbox.

Also, it doesn't sound like the entire infrastructure of Xbox Live is getting hacked, just a bit of bad luck from your end and you have my sympathies. I've been reading stories like this since the 360 launched. General and basic tips apply in this case, use a harder password (not necessarily longer), change your email or create a new one just for your Gamertag and report everything to Microsoft, they may sort this out.