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Grrrr! Someone stole my XBL gamertag

Exuro said:
Don't XBL account require a live email account?
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nope but having a hotmail account doesnt mean you will get hacked sooner then the next guy.

it's all about password and security
 
How did he find your phone number???
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My cell phone number is associated to my Windows Live ID for SMS support and account updates on Windows Live ID. Even though Windows Live ID is associated to your gamertag, you can break the link between the two.

i keep on getting messages from people wanting to buy my gamertag. I wonder how much these sell for sometimes?
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I get one or two a week.

If true that he paid $300; the guy sounds too dumb anyway by just calling 'element'. :p
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Considering he got really upset when I told him his Xbox 360 will get a lifetime hardware ban (banned by hardware ID and serial number), so that new Gears of War 360 will be banned.
 
I've heard of a lot of people getting in on the "Original Gamertags" craze. They want simple one word gamertags, most of which were taken up in the first year or so of Xbox Live on the original xbox. So it leads to assholes hacking and doing social engineering to get them, then they sell them to pathetic nerds who think it will make them look cool on Xbox Live.

I've had the same GT for 8 years now, and I am always worried that some shit like this may happen. I've heard of this happening to Pro players in games like Halo and CoD, they get their account stolen, and the hackers advertise to sell it, or to get people on their friends list for money. There is a lot of little nefarious shit that goes on with Gamertags and people's accounts that you wouldn't imagine unless you are very active on XBL.

A lot of this was tied to ranks in online games as well, Maxed prestige in CoD, max rank in Halo, or with all the unlocks, all kinds of stupid shit that people think will make them look cool, and they are willing to hack or pay for it.

Good luck OP, and hope everything works out for you.
 
Booshka said:
I've heard of a lot of people getting in on the "Original Gamertags" craze. They want simple one word gamertags, most of which were taken up in the first year or so of Xbox Live on the original xbox. So it leads to assholes hacking and doing social engineering to get them, then they sell them to pathetic nerds who think it will make them look cool on Xbox Live.

I've had the same GT for 8 years now, and I am always worried that some shit like this may happen. I've heard of this happening to Pro players in games like Halo and CoD, they get their account stolen, and the hackers advertise to sell it, or to get people on their friends list for money. There is a lot of little nefarious shit that goes on with Gamertags and people's accounts that you wouldn't imagine unless you are very active on XBL.

A lot of this was tied to ranks in online games as well, Maxed prestige in CoD, max rank in Halo, or with all the unlocks, all kinds of stupid shit that people think will make them look cool, and they are willing to hack or pay for it.

Good luck OP, and hope everything works out for you.
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What's hilarious is that these people actually think that they'll get to keep the gamertag forever and get away with it. Don't they realize Microsoft/Sony/etc. have whole teams of people who try to prevent this.
 
element said:
Considering he got really upset when I told him his Xbox 360 will get a lifetime hardware ban (banned by hardware ID and serial number), so that new Gears of War 360 will be banned.
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So awesome. XD

Kinda reminds me of that story about...(forgot many things) that guy that his PS3 was stolen. He used the PS3/PSP Remote Play to turn it on and also activate the camera. Forgot many of the details, but they managed to get the guy and the PS3. XD
 
dallow_bg said:
w

t

f

Seriously, he called you?
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Yep, that's where he "done goofed" as the kids would say and you got a lucky break. Otherwise the dude probably would've changed your password, removed the primary e-mail and been done with it and took your account for a ride.
 
Wallach said:
What kind of idiot buys a gamertag. That is really one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
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Well, most cases I know of did because of the games included more than the actual name.
But, yeah..I've seen people really interested in a few names. (like; let's say you wanted 'Wallach' -and only that name- but someone else got it.)

A few do, for the Gamerscore. *shrugs*
 
my gamertag is oxygen

Well it is nice to have directors follow you on twitter. Got an email from support, already recovered my account. They suggested that I use a different WLID from now on.

What sucks is the person nuked my friends list. UGGGGG!!
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
I'd pay $319 for that.

Wait...are the 00's zeroes or letters? If they're letters, no deal.





Well that's alright. Not $300 alright but...hey...people are mad as a hatter these days.
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I don't have any consoles but I'm assuming that his name is tied to his account and therefore any purchases on the Live Marketplace, like Steam.
 
element said:
my gamertag is oxygen

Well it is nice to have directors follow you on twitter. Got an email from support, already recovered my account. They suggested that I use a different WLID from now on.

What sucks is the person nuked my friends list. UGGGGG!!
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Can't they recover the friendlist ?

avatar-body.png

why is Ur avatar that small or did he changed it?
 
God these threads scare the living shit out of me. I have so many Arcade games associated with my gamertag, I don't want my shit hacked either.
 
element said:
my gamertag is oxygen

Well it is nice to have directors follow you on twitter. Got an email from support, already recovered my account. They suggested that I use a different WLID from now on.

What sucks is the person nuked my friends list. UGGGGG!!
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Only your real friends will notice and add you back, blessing in disguise.
 
Derrick01 said:
This seems to be getting worse and worse and so far there's been nothing but silence on MS front. There's obviously something going on on their end, it's hard to believe everyone is getting hit with a phishing attack or using the same password as other potential hacked sites.
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At the same time, if there had been a legitimate hack my feeling is that we would have known about it. It's not like MS can just sit back and do nothing if their user database got stolen. I don't think they're that stupid. They would at least have to ask their users to change their passwords.

That being said, MS should definitely take a look at Steam Guard or something similar. There's no reason whatsoever for someone to be able to sign in on my account with any other Xbox other than mine without me authorizing it first. And this is something most definitely worth keeping an eye on.
 
DualShadow said:
Who did he pay the $300 to?
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No idea. I mean I'm not 100% sure he really paid for it, that is just what he said.

Can't they recover the friendlist?
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I emailed them and they are looking into it.

why is Ur avatar that small or did he changed it?
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I haven't touched it in ages.

The XBL support team were very helpful, didn't hurt having the director of XBL helping me out.

It was kinda nice telling the guy that he will be hardware banned 'What dude?'. He asked how I knew, and telling him I worked at MS I think scared him.

Friendslist is back. Hurray!
 
element said:
What makes it really scary is I have a WP7 and a Zune account. Lots of things tied to that WLID account.
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Yeah, I had my company's MICROSOFT LICENSING tied my account. Yay, smart.

But at the same time, it should not matter. Just because he got the Live ID account associated with my Xbox account doesn't make anyone else's Live ID account any more secure.

Microsoft requires Live accounts for:

Xbox Live
Microsoft Licensing
Xune
Windows Phone
Windows Messenger
Hotmail
The basis of Windows 8
Windows Live Family Safety
...and more!

I feel all those services are in danger of being compromised.
 
I would rage hard if someone ever hacked my account. It's tied to my Xbox Live, Zune pass and Windows Phone, plus who knows what else.

They need to offer authenticators.


Do you have any idea how your account keeps getting hacked?
 
you guys stop being scared stupid. Just dont fall for phishing, change your email every so often, and use good passwords. Live ID does have 2 step authentication if you really want to use it. And make sure you can properly identify yourself as the true account holder when you call customer service. This goes for Google accounts, Yahoos, Skypes, Steam, your Credit cards etc.
 
My WLID tied to my XBL account was hacked some time back. Luckily they didn't hack my XBL GT or anything else associated to that ID. Changed the password as soon as I recovered my account.
 
There is deffo been a rise in this sort of thing, a lad i know on another forum had his hacked the country changed he said and loads of points charged.
 
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what this whole thing turns out to be. In one of these threads, someone posted a Chinese Alibaba.com-style site where there were what looked to be thousands of accounts loaded with 10k MS points on sale.
 
fricken hell man , my account was hacked and purchases were made and I was told 20-40 days.


I'm really pissed with microsoft and may just cancel my xbox live and sell my system. Its such a hassle that i'm punished because someone got my account
 
i dont even understand this.

was this person a friend of yours but you neglected to mention that part?

and if your account has been compromised twice already, you have a leak somewhere, bro.
 
i dont even understand this.
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what don't you understand. pretty straight forward.

Live ID does have 2 step authentication
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WLID has two stage account verification, but which WLID is associated to your XBL account is just a simple change and no verification is needed.

And make sure you can properly identify yourself as the true account holder when you call customer service
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that was a challenge since they already removed all proper information associated with my XBL gamertag.

was this person a friend of yours but you neglected to mention that part?
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Nope. Most of the people on my list are coworkers.

and if your account has been compromised twice already, you have a leak somewhere, bro.
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nope. I change my pw every 72 days. I have a xbl beta account with a normal word. I guess it is a target.

I guess it's time to make some friends who work for Microsoft.
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Being a former employee doesn't hurt. Connections!
 
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