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My PSN account was just hacked, what steps should I take?

S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
I know there are a lot of these threads but I'm desperately looking for some advice and feedback so hopefully it's ok.

Man, I was really looking forward to this week-end and it just started terribly. I woke up two hours ago to my phone buzzing. Someone spent 80€ on my PSN account via Paypal. I also got an e-mail from Sony saying my ID had been changed, so I can't log in to PSN since my e-mail address isn't recognized anymore. I know, I should have had the 2-step verification but I hadn't touched my PS4 in a long while. I took steps immediately but I just want to make sure I haven't forgotten anything and I'd like some feedback about Sony's customer service as well.

Even though I don't play games that much anymore, I have hundreds of games on my account and have spent thousands of euros on my PSN account since the PS3 / PSP days, so I'm kinda panicking right now.

Here's what I've done:
- Tried to call Sony. The line isn't open during the week-end in France so I have to call Monday at 9:30 am.
- Sent an e-mail to Sony in the meantime but I probably won't get a response before Monday.
- Deleted my bank information from my Paypal account to prevent more purchases.
- Started the process of contesting the purchases with Paypal. Edit: I cancelled my Paypal request after reading the advice below.
- I've started to change my passwords everywhere. I use multiple passwords but just in case...

So, should I be doing anything else?
And what is the likelyhood that I'll get my account and my money back?

Suddenly, I don't hate the Nintendo account system that much anymore...
 
D

Dingotech

Member
Sgt. Kabukiman said:
- Started the process of contesting the purchases with Paypal.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have done this, Sony will ban your account if you reverse the charges.

For one you should be in your account security settings enabling 2 factor authentication, which also gives you the option to sign out all consoles.
 
P

peanutbutterlatte

Member
Call Sony support and hope for the best.

For me, it took absolutely months and I risked losing hundreds in games. But others have said they got through okay.
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
Don't contest with Paypal. If they do a chargeback you will be banned by Sony.
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
Shoutout to all who are reading as well. Activate 2FA if you haven't for your accounts that matter. Works even if you're not situated in the country so if someone gets ahold of your account and activates 2FA you'll lose out even more.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
Dingotech said:
You shouldn't have done this, Sony will ban your account if you reverse the charges.

For one you should be in your account security settings enabling 2 factor authentication, which also gives you the option to sign out all consoles.
Click to expand...

Wait, WTF?
Ok, so apparently I can cancel the process on Paypal.
Should I really do it, will Sony reimburse me?
 
Z

zerokoolpsx

Member
Well, your account is gonna be banned for charge backs. Like everyone said, try to freeze the transaction with Paypal.
Just enable 2-step verification.
 
C

Chesskid1

Banned
i was hacked like a week ago, here's what happened to me:

guy added $10 x 5 to my account, i was online and insta unlinked paypal and changed my password, so very little damage done
contacted sony chat the next day, asked for a paypal refund, they said sure
next day my sony account was banned
contacted sony and they said it was locked for security reasons and they'll escalate it and unban it
3 days later my account was unbanned
i get my account back, login, and check the balance. it was +$5, the guy from sony support refunded the banner saga i bought on the flash sale for some reason??? i was pretty clear i wanted the $50 funding refunded, whatever.

not even going to bother sony again to try to get the $50 back, want nothing to do with their support. i was probably going to add the $50 eventually.

chargebacks are the worst thing you can do with your PSN, you will be banned, sony will make you pay it back, then they will unlock your account, then you have to deal with trying to get a refund. i imagine that process could take weeks.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
I'm torn on this.
The automatic e-mail I got from Paypal said that they are contacting the vendor (Sony) and that meanwhile the money is frozen. To be clear, the money is still in my bank account so there is no charge back. Paypal transactions usually take 3-5 days for me.
 
D

Dingotech

Member
Sgt. Kabukiman said:
I'm torn on this.
The automatic e-mail I got from Paypal said that they are contacting the vendor (Sony) and that meanwhile the money is frozen. To be clear, the money is still in my bank account so there is no charge back. Paypal transactions usually take 3-5 days for me.
Click to expand...

If the purchases have been made on your account and the funds don't arrive at Sony then expect your account to be banned.
 
K

krang

Member
Dingotech said:
You shouldn't have done this, Sony will ban your account if you reverse the charges.

For one you should be in your account security settings enabling 2 factor authentication, which also gives you the option to sign out all consoles.
Click to expand...

I'm not singling you out or anything, but it's a terrible situation that it's recommended advice that you don't do what you can to protect your money. Especially when Sony's customer service is so horrific - I'm not sure I'd want to put my faith in them sorting it out if I was in the same situation.
 
D

Dingotech

Member
krang said:
I'm not singling you out or anything, but it's a terrible situation that it's recommended advice that you don't do what you can to protect your money. Especially when Sony's customer service is so horrific - I'm not sure I'd want to put my faith in them sorting it out if I was in the same situation.
Click to expand...

The OP already stated they had removed the payment option from their account, so all we are talking about is the following equation - Do you care more about the $80 or your entire account.

Reversing charges = banned account with Sony.
 
PepperedHam

PepperedHam

Member
The fact that Sony just bans no questions asked on a charge back bugs the hell outta me. I get that they don't want people nabbing free games by buying and charging back but like... this is account security here man.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
If/when you get your account back, change your password before 2 step. People are getting access to accounts almost certainly because you use the same email/pass combination as another site that was hacked - possibly a long time ago. 2 step can be a reassuring protection but important to have uniques passwords in the first place. And for important sites (I.e with financial access), consider a unique email address too - register new ones easily with gmail or add periods to your current gmail to have websites treat them uniquely
 
K

krang

Member
Dingotech said:
The OP already stated they had removed the payment option from their account, so all we are talking about is the following equation - Do you care more about the $80 or your entire account.

Reversing charges = banned account with Sony.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know that, but I don't feel like you should be put in that position to make that choice. Chargeback is a valid mechanism to protect your money - any amount of it.

PepperedHam said:
The fact that Sony just bans no questions asked on a charge back bugs the hell outta me. I get that they don't want people nabbing free games by buying and charging back but like... this is account security here man.
Click to expand...

This is my opinion. They're punishing you for retrieving money taken illegitimately from your account. Which is especially concerning when there's the very real possibility that it's Sony's fault in the first place!
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
Sgt. Kabukiman said:
Wait, WTF?
Ok, so apparently I can cancel the process on Paypal.
Should I really do it, will Sony reimburse me?
Click to expand...

Sony will probably only refund the money to the account wallet if you buy another eighty euros worth or psn credit. In other threads like this they play hardball.
 
C

Capella

Member
If you can still cancel the process you started with paypal, do it.

A charge back should be your last resort when trying to resolve situations like this for any service. Always contact the company first to see if you can get a refund.
 
D

Dingotech

Member
krang said:
Yeah I know that, but I don't feel like you should be put in that position to make that choice. Chargeback is a valid mechanism to protect your money - any amount of it.
Click to expand...

I agree you shouldn't be put in that position, but unfortunately that's the way it is currently.

You can feel free to reverse the charges, but I believe most people would prefer to keep their account and that's why my initial advice was aimed in that direction.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
Alright I cancelled the process with Paypal.
It's killing me that I can't contact Sony right now. It doesn't appear that they have a chat on the french support site.
And looking at other sites, it looks like the best I can hope for is to get 80€ on my PSN wallet, not an actual refund. Great, my budget was super fucking tight this month and now it's about to get worse...
 
K

krang

Member
Sgt. Kabukiman said:
Alright I cancelled the process with Paypal.
It's killing me that I can't contact Sony right now. It doesn't appear that they have a chat on the french support site.
And looking at other sites, it looks like the best I can hope for is to get 80€ on my PSN wallet, not an actual refund. Great, my budget was super fucking tight this month and now it's about to get worse...
Click to expand...

Really?! That is fucking infuriating.
 
D

Dingotech

Member
comshoplesce said:
chargeback? where is that rule written?
Click to expand...

It's an unwritten rule, try reversing charges on any other account you own and see how the company reacts.

Search these very forums and you will find loads of people who have had their account banned due to reversing charges.
 
Pjsprojects

Pjsprojects

Member
Had the same a few weeks ago. Sony refunded me after locking my account for a week.
However my refund was a once in a lifetime event and a measure of good will.
This means if it happens again tuff ****.

Don't link cards or PayPal and add two stage verification,Sony seem to get hacked every weekend at the moment.

The whole thing has pretty much stopped me using the PS4.
 
T

test_account

XP-39C²
krang said:
This is my opinion. They're punishing you for retrieving money taken illegitimately from your account. Which is especially concerning when there's the very real possibility that it's Sony's fault in the first place!
Click to expand...
I dont think that they can know why you're doing the chargeback. Chargeback should really be the last resort, in my opinion.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
Pjsprojects said:
Had the same a few weeks ago. Sony refunded me after locking my account for a week.
However my refund was a once in a lifetime event and a measure of good will.
This means if it happens again tuff ****.

Don't link cards or PayPal and add two stage verification,Sony seem to get hacked every weekend at the moment.

The whole thing has pretty much stopped me using the PS4.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it reassures me to read that.
But yeah, I've always been super careful with my information online but after this, bye bye Paypal and welcome back physical games!
 
J

Joni

Member
Pjsprojects said:
Had the same a few weeks ago. Sony refunded me after locking my account for a week.
However my refund was a once in a lifetime event and a measure of good will.
This means if it happens again tuff ****.

Don't link cards or PayPal and add two stage verification,Sony seem to get hacked every weekend at the moment.

The whole thing has pretty much stopped me using the PS4.
Click to expand...
Sony didn't get hacked, you got hacked. As for cards, they still require the security code which an hacker wouldn't have.

Hamster Plugin said:
Sadly, Sony's European division is also the one with worse support. Most good stories I've heard come from Americans.
Click to expand...

Yes, but you can contact those agencies to help you.
 
1

13ruce

Banned
Yagharek said:
Sony will probably only refund the money to the account wallet if you buy another eighty euros worth or psn credit. In other threads like this they play hardball.
Click to expand...

They should refund all money to the bank account why would anyone want it as psn credit maybe the OP really needs the money. Sony's costumer service is the worst.
 
T

test_account

XP-39C²
13ruce said:
They should refund all money to the bank account why would anyone want it as psn credit maybe the OP really needs the money. Sony's costumer service is the worst.
Click to expand...
Several of people have gotten a full refund as well, so i doubt that this is some standard policy.


Hope it works out well for the OP.
 
J

Joni

Member
Pjsprojects said:
Ok fine,it seems just about every weekend a PSN users account gets comprised.
Click to expand...
Yes, because people don't learn and keep using the same passwords, not even changing them when another service gets hacked. That happened to you. That is why you get one topic every weekend instead of thousands at the same time. They are basically whitewashing your stolen information through psn.
 
Wireframe

Wireframe

Member
I got hacked last week, apparently it happened over a month ago but nothing else was done besides changing my log in email despite having payment associated. Sony customer support was really good for me (I guess because no money was involved). This was the wake up call I needed though, I now have long and unique passwords for everything and have enabled 2-step wherever I can.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
13ruce said:
They should refund all money to the bank account why would anyone want it as psn credit maybe the OP really needs the money. Sony's costumer service is the worst.
Click to expand...

You're right, they should. But they have a record for not giving a fuck about the customer in these hacks.
 
N

NHale

Member
entrydenied said:
Shoutout to all who are reading as well. Activate 2FA if you haven't for your accounts that matter. Works even if you're not situated in the country so if someone gets ahold of your account and activates 2FA you'll lose out even more.
Click to expand...

Can you use the same phone number as validation for multiple accounts from different countries for example?
 
N

NurseRedHeart

Member
In my experience, it was a heck of a lot easier and faster to use the chat support for this.

Make sure you have access to your original sign-up email or the last 4 digits of the credit card you used to make purchases.

If you het banned for chargeback, make sure you tell them that it you did so because of the hacking.

Most importantly when dealing with any type of costumer service and issues like this, just stay call, patient, and polite. No yelling or cursing.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
NurseRedHeart said:
In my experience, it was a heck of a lot easier and faster to use the chat support for this.

Make sure you have access to your original sign-up email or the last 4 digits of the credit card you used to make purchases.

If you het banned for chargeback, make sure you tell them that it you did so because of the hacking.

Most importantly when dealing with any type of costumer service and issues like this, just stay call, patient, and polite. No yelling or cursing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have all that info at the ready. I'm always polite with customer service, I understand that they are not responsible for Sony's policies or the hack. Unfortunately, it appears the chat is not accessible in my country during the week-end so I'll have to wait until monday which is driving me crazy.
 
D

dglavimans

Member
2 step verification needs to be a default option. Feels much safer every time you login you get a sms. Money isnt getting in and out without me knowing it at this point and it gives a really good feeling
 
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