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PSN Account HiJacked


Cynthia-Roses

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This is super frustrating. My wife and me share a PS4 and we both have it set as our primary PS4, no biggie. She sometimes buys games on her account and I buy them on mine, they are on the same PS4 though so we could always play each other's games with no issues. Well someone deactivated our PS4 as her primary PS4 and activated their own PS4 as the primary and it's like Sony's system is designed to be abused because it won't let you deactivate systems via the web if you deactivated within the last 6 months... But like... If I am an account hijacker, the FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS DEACTIVATE THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE ACCOUNT'S SYSTEMS! Apparently it takes 6 months to reactivate your own system as the primary system. So basically my wife can access her games... And she can access digital games that I purchased... But I can't access any digital games SHE purchased.

 

So basically this screws me over so I can't access half of our games.

 

I feel so powerless to do anything because Sony's help forms don't help. And their office hours of contact are limited.

 

How do you fix this crap? Why does Sony design this system like this to where if someone gets your account they can basically screw you over for 6 months? Why? To prevent game sharing? Is it WORTH the price of inconveniencing the legitimate customer? I can say now: I am avoiding digital games after this so that means most of my games will be bought used since it's the only way to get decent prices on games (instead of using digital sales) So good job Sony. I now will go to other retailers instead of you to get games which makes you lose money.

 

If there is anyone who has any advice on what I should do, I'm all ears. I just know I am avoiding digital now like the PLAGUE.

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First thing you should do is activate 2 step verification for both accounts immediately. This should prevent any further problems with people accessing your accounts.

It's been available since August.

 

Only thing you can try to get her account back sooner is to talk to somebody at Sony. Personally I have found them always to be very helpful.

If they can't help you, well, you'll have to wait 6 months and there's nothing else to be done. At least if you set up the additional security you can take this as a lesson.

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8 minutes ago, dernop said:

i don't really have much advice to offer, but if anything: as soon as you regain control of your account(s) activate two-factor authentication immediately for both of them!

 

hope you can sort this out soon, good luck!

 

Thanks! We have access to the account and we regained control of it, but we can't get our PS4 set as the primary. I changed the password, changed recovery question, and even added a pin number. However many people online are saying it can take around 6 months for Sony to allow you to deactivate the hacker's PS4... I hope that isn't the case...

 

If I end up having to wait 6 months to get access to games I purchased for both me and my wife, I am only buying used from now on. If Sony will treat me like an animal for buying games from their digital sales, I will buy used physical copies to save money and thus they get no profit from me.

 

I get that okay yeah shame on me for not having the extra security, but 6 months is kind of a brutal punishment for just trusting Sony to keep my account secure like they were supposed to... Like that's a harsh lesson for such a simple mistake...

Edited by Cynthia-Roses
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1 minute ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

Thanks! We have access to the account and we regained control of it, but we can't get our PS4 set as the primary. I changed the password, changed recovery question, and even added a pin number. However many people online are saying it can take around 6 months for Sony to allow you to deactivate the hacker's PS4... I hope that isn't the case...

 

that's a good start but definitely activate two-factor (or "two step" as sony calls it) on top of that: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/account-security/2-step-verification/

 

and yeah, you can only deactivate ALL systems from the web interface once every six months. so either you get the hacker/hijacker to deactivate his ps4 voluntarily or you have to wait six months to do it yourself. :(

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1 minute ago, dernop said:

 

that's a good start but definitely activate two-factor (or "two step" as sony calls it) on top of that: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/account-security/2-step-verification/

 

and yeah, you can only deactivate ALL systems from the web interface once every six months. so either you get the hacker/hijacker to deactivate his ps4 voluntarily or you have to wait six months to do it yourself. :(

 

Gotta love that... Either convince a hacker to grow a conscious or be out 6 months.

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2 minutes ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

Gotta love that... Either convince a hacker to grow a conscious or be out 6 months.

 

I don't think you'll be able to contact them unless the hacker was someone you already knew. If you changed the password, they won't be able to log into the account anymore, so they won't be able to read any messages you send to it.

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4 minutes ago, Shadiochao said:

 

I don't think you'll be able to contact them unless the hacker was someone you already knew. If you changed the password, they won't be able to log into the account anymore, so they won't be able to read any messages you send to it.

 

Basically meaning... I'm screwed for 6 months.

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32 minutes ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

it won't let you deactivate systems via the web if you deactivated within the last 6 months

Actually there is way. If you contact Sony via email or phone and explain the situation they can actually make that option available again. However, you're going to need to convince them. Besides telling them that you're sharing your games with your wife will probably result into an answer like "Your account is only for you and no one else. You can't trust anyone. blabla". Altho maybe they can understand it since she's really close to you. Dunno man. Tough spot.

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1 minute ago, simpgraus said:

i say just ring Sony you got nothing else to lose..

 

I'm going to try that when their offices open. Since they are not open for a bit longer, I have to wait a few hours.

Just now, Floriiss said:

Actually there is way. If you contact Sony via email or phone and explain the situation they can actually make that option available again. However, you're going to need to convince them. Besides telling them that you're sharing your games with your wife will probably result into an answer like "Your account is only for you and no one else. You can't trust anyone. blabla". Altho maybe they can understand it since she's really close to you. Dunno man. Tough spot.

 

Yeah but the difference is we are using the "sharing" the way it was INTENDED to be used. On the same system with two people who both own it and live together. That's how it was supposed to be used. We are not using the same account, we both have our own PSNs so we can go online and have different stats and trophies. Like is Sony really going to think that when you share a PS4 with a person you live with that you should have to buy two copies of a game? What's the difference between sharing our digital games in the same house over buying a physical copy and sharing that?

 

Like this is just overall a miserable experience. I don't see any logic in designing the system like this beyond trying to "prevent" game sharing, but at what cost? You're helping the hackers and dishonest people MORE by doing this, and harming legitimate customers who are victims of stuff like this.

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34 minutes ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

6 months is kind of a brutal punishment for just trusting Sony to keep my account secure like they were supposed to...

The only way somebody can access your (or your wife's) account is if the same email address and password were used on some other site that got hacked. Whoever has that information probably tried to access a few different sites and got lucky on PSN.

This is a pretty common problem actually, and there is nothing Sony can do to prevent this.

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I made a thread about it back in October when the same shit happened to me 

Sony probably won't do anything to help. I called support a few times, tweeted @askplaystation, and went on the web chat at least a dozen times but they all told me that I needed to just wait 6 months until I could activate it as primary again. I gave up trying after 2 weeks of hounding them because they simply didn't care.

 

What I did was go on the webstore and add every free-to-play ps4 game and dlc to my download list to piss of the guy that took my account. After a week of doing this daily he either stopped using the console or deleted my account from it because there have been 64 items in the queue since then. While I still can't use my account as a primary, I don't think whoever it has it on their console any more.

Edited by Urushiro
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1 hour ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

 

I'm going to try that when their offices open. Since they are not open for a bit longer, I have to wait a few hours.

 

Yeah but the difference is we are using the "sharing" the way it was INTENDED to be used. On the same system with two people who both own it and live together. That's how it was supposed to be used. We are not using the same account, we both have our own PSNs so we can go online and have different stats and trophies. Like is Sony really going to think that when you share a PS4 with a person you live with that you should have to buy two copies of a game? What's the difference between sharing our digital games in the same house over buying a physical copy and sharing that?

 

Like this is just overall a miserable experience. I don't see any logic in designing the system like this beyond trying to "prevent" game sharing, but at what cost? You're helping the hackers and dishonest people MORE by doing this, and harming legitimate customers who are victims of stuff like this.

 

When you are able to call Sony on the phone, they will resolve this. Be sure to update this thread and let us know when that happens.

 

I know you are the victim here but Sony limits self deactivations to prevent even more abuse. The limitation is not absolute, Sony support can resolve this. It also gives them a chance to see the account that deactivated your wifes and take action. If you could just deactivate on your own to "fix this", I'm willing to bet most people, including you, would never contact Sony and these people would continue to get away with this stuff. You are the rare person who will just need them to do it for you. Blame the losers who got access to your wifes log in. They're the ones who caused this.

 

This thread should be yet another warning thread to enable two-factor authentication, which would have absolutely prevented this.

 

 

The magic phase if you can't get Level 1 phone support to help is "Can I speak with your supervisor?" Repeat as long as necessary to get the help you need.

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2 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

When you are able to call Sony on the phone, they will resolve this. Be sure to update this thread and let us know when that happens.

 

I know you are the victim here but Sony limits self deactivations to prevent even more abuse. The limitation is not absolute, Sony support can resolve this. It also gives them a chance to see the account that deactivated your wifes and take action. If you could just deactivate on your own to "fix this", I'm willing to bet most people, including you, would never contact Sony and these people would continue to get away with this stuff. You are the rare person who will just need them to do it for you. Blame the losers who got access to your wifes log in. They're the ones who caused this.

I contacted them for 2 weeks straight and they did nothing. I told them the MAC addresses of the PS4's I owned and they did nothing. I offered to send in proof of identity and they did nothing. They told me that no one on their side was able to deactivate my account either. If @Cynthia-Roses finds a way to get them to do it, I'd also like to know because I still have another 4 months before I can deactivate

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Just now, Urushiro said:

I contacted them for 2 weeks straight and they did nothing. I told them the MAC addresses of the PS4's I owned and they did nothing. I offered to send in proof of identity and they did nothing. They told me that no one on their side was able to deactivate my account either. If @Cynthia-Roses finds a way to get them to do it, I'd also like to know because I still have another 4 months before I can deactivate

 

I'd highly advise calling again, and if you can't get the first person you reach to help, ask for their supervisor. If that person cannot help, ask for their supervisor. Repeat until you get the help you need. Do not accept a call back, email correspondence or any other diversion. Do not get off the phone until you get gone through several supervisors if needed.

 

Much like the rest of every business on Earth, sometimes a lot of the peons in the entry level positions don't know what they're doing. Don't treat them badly and don't get mad at them, just ask for their supervisor and repeat as necessary. Level 3 or 4 is the highest I've ever had to go. This works with both Comcast and at&t (both had to go to Level 4) as well so if it works with two of the worst customer service companies on the planet, it'll work with PlayStation. 

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My friend had this same issue. Sony's policy supports the hackers. He just got his account back 2 days ago. He only noticed it happened because suddenly his dad couldn't play his games. My question is if the games are purchased (as in not free plus games) how are there any restrictions on who plays? This policy about primary PS4 six month lock out is one thing but the total inability to share when not primary? That makes no sense. Simply block a single purchase license from being playable on 2 consoles at once. Other than that, I can give anyone I want a disc and they can play it. This is the same effect. Ridiculous policies which allow hackers to steal and use other people's games should probably be reevaluated.

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8 minutes ago, dojaeme said:

My friend had this same issue. Sony's policy supports the hackers. He just got his account back 2 days ago. He only noticed it happened because suddenly his dad couldn't play his games. My question is if the games are purchased (as in not free plus games) how are there any restrictions on who plays? This policy about primary PS4 six month lock out is one thing but the total inability to share when not primary? That makes no sense. Simply block a single purchase license from being playable on 2 consoles at once. Other than that, I can give anyone I want a disc and they can play it. This is the same effect. Ridiculous policies which allow hackers to steal and use other people's games should probably be reevaluated.

Digital purchases on the ps4 can only be played on the primary activated PS4, it was designed to stop all of the game sharing people did on the ps3.

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6 minutes ago, dojaeme said:

My friend had this same issue. Sony's policy supports the hackers. He just got his account back 2 days ago. He only noticed it happened because suddenly his dad couldn't play his games. My question is if the games are purchased (as in not free plus games) how are there any restrictions on who plays? This policy about primary PS4 six month lock out is one thing but the total inability to share when not primary? That makes no sense. Simply block a single purchase license from being playable on 2 consoles at once. Other than that, I can give anyone I want a disc and they can play it. This is the same effect. Ridiculous policies which allow hackers to steal and use other people's games should probably be reevaluated.

 

I believe the lockout is so a person can't repeatedly activate a console as primary, take it offline, then remotely deactivate it so it keeps all their games. If it was possible to repeat that without any delays, people would be able to buy a new PS4, download hundreds of dollars worth of games onto it, then sell it for twice the price on the condition that the buyer never connects to the internet.

 

If they stopped a single purchase from being playable on two consoles at once, they'd have to block offline play to enforce that. Limiting a purchase to two consoles is essentially what they're doing now anyway, just with primary consoles it's always possible for at least one person to play their games. I imagine it's not a problem most people will have to deal with, because they only ever use one console.

 

As for giving anyone a disc and letting them play it, the difference there is that only one person can use a disc at any one time.

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2 hours ago, Cynthia-Roses said:

This is super frustrating. My wife and me share a PS4 and we both have it set as our primary PS4, no biggie. She sometimes buys games on her account and I buy them on mine, they are on the same PS4 though so we could always play each other's games with no issues. Well someone deactivated our PS4 as her primary PS4 and activated their own PS4 as the primary and it's like Sony's system is designed to be abused because it won't let you deactivate systems via the web if you deactivated within the last 6 months... But like... If I am an account hijacker, the FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS DEACTIVATE THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE ACCOUNT'S SYSTEMS! Apparently it takes 6 months to reactivate your own system as the primary system. So basically my wife can access her games... And she can access digital games that I purchased... But I can't access any digital games SHE purchased.

 

So basically this screws me over so I can't access half of our games.

 

I feel so powerless to do anything because Sony's help forms don't help. And their office hours of contact are limited.

 

How do you fix this crap? Why does Sony design this system like this to where if someone gets your account they can basically screw you over for 6 months? Why? To prevent game sharing? Is it WORTH the price of inconveniencing the legitimate customer? I can say now: I am avoiding digital games after this so that means most of my games will be bought used since it's the only way to get decent prices on games (instead of using digital sales) So good job Sony. I now will go to other retailers instead of you to get games which makes you lose money.

 

If there is anyone who has any advice on what I should do, I'm all ears. I just know I am avoiding digital now like the PLAGUE.

 

There's rumors of a PSN Database dump as of recent as 2014/2015, but the hackers may have use LS (not linking) to attain your information based on your username being used on other sites. I've tried deactivating all consoles through Sony Support chat before, and they could care less, in my experience. Go for 2fa if nothing else, but as I have been hacked before on another PSN, I can tell you, if a hacker ever changes your password and email, just remember to keep your PS3's serial code (or whatever console you made the PSN account on) on hand, as that's your key to getting your account back, and no hacker can get that. 

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Okay! Huge update time!

 

Update on the situation:

 

So we changed the password on the account, we enabled the 2-step. I also added a pin number to the account so if anyone tries to make purchases they'll need the pin. The security question was changed, and we changed emails to the account. I am fairly confident this has to do with the Yahoo email hack from a few days ago because the email for the account was Yahoo and she used the same password for said email. So consider this a further warning to those who are uninformed: YAHOO HAS BEEN HACKED TWICE IN THE PAST TWO YEARS AND THEY ARE NOT A SECURE EMAIL SERVER. IF YOU ARE USING THEM, SWITCH NOW.

 

Given that we are European customers, contacting Sony was tricky. There is not really a customer service number for Europeans, so basically if you're European and you run into this issue, you are screwed even further. So we actually paid the fees to call their American customer service and explained we have an American PS4 and explained the entire situation to them in detail.

 

TO OUR GOOD FORTUNE the person who hijacked the account and did this had a European PS4 and not and American one. This more or less proved to them that this wasn't just a second PS4 we had. When we told them we were Americans living overseas their demeanor changed entirely and were far more willing to help us. Seems as though Sony treats their American customers better than their Europeans (even though my wife is technically dual citizen here in Germany) and because they believed us they reset the web deactivation counter and it should allow us to deactivate this hacker's PS4 in the next 1-2 days and we can re-activate our own PS4 then.

 

So this hopefully is going to turn out well. So a bit that I've learned from all of this:

 

  1. BUYER BEWARE WITH DIGITAL GAMES. If you share a PS4 and you share digital games among the house, be weary. If you can get a physical copy for a good price, always go for that. Clearly the digital market is not 100% secure and stuff like this can lock you out of your own games.
  2. Avoid Yahoo email like the plague.
  3. Have every security measure on your PSN account available.
  4. Do not use the same password for your PSN for anything else.
  5. Sony responds better to Americans.
  6. Hackers are douchebags.

I definitely will be going back to heavily focusing on physical copies over digital because of this. I'll pay the extra money to know I won't be randomly locked out of my purchases.

 

My wife learned her lesson from this, and I am hoping this helps others learn too.

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