Xbox Live 'Phishing' Scam Victims Receive Refunds From Microsoft
Microsoft is refunding several Xbox Live customers who became a part of a recent online "phishing" scam.
The company is also advising other affected customers to change their passwords and stay abreast of the situation.
A number of United Kingdom gamers had their online credit card information stolen by a group of cyber criminals. The criminals led gamers to a website that promised free Microsoft points.
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To claim the complimentary points, gamers were forced to provide their credit card numbers and other valuable information.
Soon after, the criminals stole Xbox Live gamers’ personal information. Credit card funds were lost and online Xbox Live accounts soon became locked.
Several British players lost up to £200 or approximately $312 in United States currency.
Paul Thompson, 29, spoke to The Sun about this online fraud: "People need to know this is happening."
"Xbox LIVE has not been hacked. Microsoft can confirm that there has been no breach to the security of our Xbox LIVE service. In this case, a number of Xbox LIVE members appear to have recently been victim of malicious ‘phishing’ scams (i.e. online attempts to acquire personal information such as passwords, user names and credit card details by purporting to be a legitimate company or person). The online safety of Xbox LIVE members remains of the utmost importance, which is why we consistently take measures to protect Xbox LIVE against ever-changing threats,” said Microsoft in a previous statement on the latest online swindle.
A Microsoft spokesperson provided some comments on the company and this matter to The Guardian: "We take the security of the Xbox Live service seriously and work to improve it against evolving threats."
"Very occasionally, though, we are contacted by members regarding alleged unauthorized access to their accounts by outside individuals. We can confirm that only a small percentage of Xbox Live customers have been affected here in the U.K.,” the spokesperson added.
"We work closely with impacted members directly to resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts and, as always, highly recommend all Xbox Live users follow our account security guidance in order to protect their account details."
Microsoft says it does not know if customers' credit card info has been publicly released or sold by the criminals yet.
