Hacked.. FTL!

hadn't logged in for about a month.. tried to get on this past monday, and..... "Invalid POL ID or password" slaps me in the face repeatedly. Get in touch with SE about it, they need the CC # on the account. Well! my CC# doesn't match up. Also told me that Cloudydemise was not a character on my account, and didn't show up on any servers, so that it was either deleted, or moved and name changed. So, if you've have seen any new white haired mithra on your server (75 nin thf pld blu)it may be me >_> but obviously a different name. Feel free to check my equip history and stuff and see if i look familiar on your server. They did however let me file a compromised account claim, so whenever this process is done I can get my character restored, hopefully. anywho, to all of those who have gone through the BS of having all your hard work stolen, I feel your pain. feel free to reply with your stories like this, or your mysterious mithra spottings, lol. My gear isn't all that so its not like drop dead uber just strolled into town or anything.
if you have seen anything suspicious though i wouldn't mind hearing about it :)

sorry for the long post, i just felt the need to rant to the community for once.

/salute

shitsux

Good luck.

thanks :)and yes, it sux hardcore =/

My apologies go out to you, I'd be devastated if that happened to me, call me paranoid but I change my password every month-2 months haha just incase anything like that could ever occur I try to avoid it, even though I'm on ps2, anyone know if the chance of getting hacked on the ps2 is the same as pc?

chances are pretty much the same because your POL ID ex(XXXX2222) can be logged in on any system, just need the POL password to bring the account up. Changing your PW often is actually recommended by SE somewhere so I'd keep doing it, and as for myself, am gonna start doing it lol. i've played on ps2, pc, and 360. You only need the above information to bring your account up on each system. and obviously a linked gamertag for xbox360 to that POL ID, but you can in fact log someone who has only ever used 360, onto a ps2 for example without knowing any of the xboxlive info. hope that helps answer your question.

SE should so something since your CC # was the old one, they have things in order now compared to the past just keep at it.

It bugs me how full of holes SE's account security checks are. A few simple functions would prevent lots of accounts from being hacked/compromised. I doubt it would be too difficult to implement something along the lines of:

Any changes to your billing/payment information would require other personal information such as your previous credit card number before it can be confirmed, which any hacker/jerk with your account info would most likely (should) not have.

Account lockdowns whenever it is being accessed from a foreign IP address and contacts the original owner via email or phone call to confirm it's status to unlock it again.

would b nice 2 have these counter measures

Sorry to hear about that ; ;

and this sounds like an excellent idea;

It needs a balance of security measures that stop "hackers" (cause honestly 90% of the time they aren't hacking you, they got your info through key loggers, etc) and also that doesn't disrupt you from just changing your info normally without having to jump through a bunch of annoying hoops.

I have my password saved so I don't have to type it in, and I realized I forget it all the time, its written down in my old big *** FFXI starter manual from the original box but still bad I forget it a lot.

on that note, I think they need to put that huge starter manual back in the new boxes of the games, cause it tells you so much things.

i save an incorrect password that way if they get into my files or whatever it's not the real one. someone on BG forums gave me the idea. also i use the virtual keyboard, but i think SE needs to scramble their virtual keyboard too.

That's a really good idea. Although having your password stored for immediate log in prevents key loggers from going in (duh you don't actually type your PW), any advanced virus or worm with literal access to your PC can easily compromise your account. I might have to try this.

If you play on PS2/3 or Xbox, and didn't register your community profile on a PC, chances are, you're pretty safe from being compromised.

I was hacked in March of 08. SE requires that people have at least 5 bits of information to conform to theirs about your account. I.E. CC#, POL ID, Your name, state, zip and so on. One mismatch will cause them to effectively "clam up" about your account, untill you jump through a bunch of hoops, make several frustrating phonecalls, and send in a notarized form saying that you are who you say you are.

A few things you can do to avoid this happening.

- Use the soft key function for POL ID and password. Changing your PW every so often isn't going to do much if you're already infected with a keylogger. Don't be fooled by this nonsense.

- If you play on PC, and you window so you can do other things like ffxiah.com or other sites, try to do it on a different PC, or, if you have a PS3, or any other device with a web browser... do that. I no longer use the PC I play ffxi on, for other things. If I need to look something up I use my other PC. If this is not an option for you, have a roomate, or a friend who doesn't play look up said information for you.

- And one thing I learned to do since this happened... get a seperate POL ID, create a mule.. have them hold the bulk of your gil, and other valueable items you don't use regularly. As I know this can be a pain in the *** if you have several 75 jobs with full sets of gear, the alternative is somewhere in China, someone is going to bank off your gears/gils.

- Lastly... perhaps the most obvious, yet you'd be surprised, DO NOT.. give your info out to anyone who lives beyond driving range for a good beating for screwing you over. In otherwords.... don't give people your info. Even if you're friends... even if you're "OMG IN LOVVVEEEEE" with someone you met in game... sounds stupid right? Who would do something so HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE... heh... trust me.. they're out there.

I lol'd at that. Even then I wouldn't give my id+pass to Mother Theresa if she reincarnated herself in my living room.

So pray you aren't one of the millions of people with a non static IP. Or that you move, or travel, because then you will be locked down.

The security measures work. It's not SE's fault that there is something, or possibly something on your machine that is allowing others to access what you have stored on it.

I feel bad for people who lose their accounts, don't get me wrong. But to say that a few simple things SE can change would solve it all is a little far fetched.

I just remember hearing stories:

"Omg that girl I met in game that I was in love with and such just stole my account because I gave her all the info one night when she said she loved me in lower jeuno and now I have ***cause I'm a moron" .... more or less...

As for the distance/beating thing.

That is actually a reference to a friend of mine in game. His OC was stolen from a trusted "friend". So... he got in his car, drove 3 hours, knocked on his door, and demanded his ***back. Well.. the d-bag had already sold off his char, and items, so my friend got the thiefs char info.. and still plays it to this day.

How's that for divine justice?

That's pretty good. Although I'd throw in a broken nose in there as an *** tax.

use Firefox with no script plug in if you don't your a *** idiot.

Wait so If I have my character registered on ffxicommunity that's a risk right there? Because I do... I'm going to un-register it, if that is the case lol.

It helps but there's no way to be 100% protected/safe. But definately take every course of action to protect yourself and nip these potential hacks in the bud.

This includes but is not limited to:

Up to date and functioning antivirus
Spy/Adware scanner and remover
A more secure and fully patched internet browser (Firefox)
A script blocking plugin for said browser (get No Script, whitelist based is safer)
Using on-screen keyboards for password entry
Not giving your account information to anyone

Reublucian is a homo

always greedy for ***

never listen to him :/

Noitti don't tell the world my secret! oh wait no secret no more =o

Had this happen to two friends twice, one a bloody moron giving his account info to a so-called girl friend and ended up being stolen the night he gave her the info...even sadder...I think it was a dude lol >.<
Other seems got hacked by a NA key logger...I hope he gets his account back. He's jumping through the hops right now.

Rofl I will admit I definitely dated a guy who I thought was a chick once. /kills himself

90% of the "hacks" have been because of this.

NEVER
EVER
GIVE
YOUR
PASSWORD
TO
ANYONE
EVER!!!!!!!!!!

People are ***. Its human nature to be an ***. So never trust anyone ever.

That would be good, but people using Dynamic IP addresses would have a nightmare.

On our server at work (we host a lot of websites so security has to be top notch), anyone trying to access our Admin panel not using an IP from our city gets denied access. Means you have to be the city to even access it, let alone attempting to login. It works wonders obviously.

Don't know how SE could get such a thing to work. Maybe by country? Would be a problem for people sharing accounts though (like so many people do nowadays).

Anyway I'm derailing, good luck getting your account back Cloudydemise!

Erm... I can quad box using 3 different friends accounts, and 4 other people have my log-in...

I guess I have the ultimate hack protection: BLU is my only 75 (PUP would be better)

I personaly do not give my account info out to anyone. My roomate can log into my character, but it's with a saved password. If I felt the need I would change it every time he logged in. So there ARE people I trust with it to a certain degree. It's like anything else on this planet, if you care about it, someone else will want to steal it, or *** it up so you can't have it anymore either. Sometimes you just can't be sure who that is. Which is why not sharing details is the best way to go.

I do hope you get your account back. Your situation is a *** because you can't even tell for sure when it was hacked. Knowing SE like I do, they'll probably use that as an excuse to shovel more nonsense down your throat, without so much courtesy as to give you a bucket to puke it back up in... sucks that they have a game we all want to play bad enough that most of us don't let ***like this deter us from continuing on.....