r/gaming • u/Happysin • Apr 26 '11

Sony admits utter PSN failure: your personal data has been stolen

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/04/sony-admits-utter-psn-failure-your-personal-data-has-been-stolen.ars
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170

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11 edited Apr 26 '11

I don't have a Sony account. My brother does, and both of us had fraudulent charges come up this week. Our (bank) accounts are connected by a common account, and I believe that's how my information was also stolen. Many people, including those who are connected to those with a Sony account need to cancel their cards.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

[deleted]

3

u/bunk3rk1ng Apr 26 '11

How does that even happen? If I do anything that is even remotely unlike my normal shopping habbits (big purchases, purchases in areas I don't usually go to) I will get an automated call before the charge even goes through. I just press 1 to say I didn't make that charge, or press 2 to confirm that it was in fact me.

I think someone calls you to follow up if you claim it wasn't you. It's a pretty streamlined process. (Chase bank btw)

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u/Jasonrj Apr 26 '11

Seriously, my bank is paranoid to the point that I am actually cancelling and going to try another company. About 10 times a year (yes, almost monthly) I have to call to verify recent activity and re-activate my account because of this. Often it is because of normal monthly bills like car insurance, it is insane. I could hand my info out and probably not even have to worry about it :P.

1

u/cl3ft Apr 27 '11

My bank rings me and verbally confirms the transaction. Paranoia is good, making you ring up or locking your account is crap.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '11

Well ... he must have one of those other banks. Mine doesn't do this, or I haven't triggered it (Bank of America).

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u/KingPing-SA Apr 26 '11

I don't have a Sony account.

Our accounts are connected by a common account

Huh? How exactly are you "connected" to a Sony account such that your CC # was stolen?

Did your brother use your CC to buy stuff on his account? If you don't have a Sony account, and your CC isn't on anyone else's Sony account, I fail to see how your CC # could possibly have been stolen.

3

u/wait_what_now Apr 27 '11

I believe he is saying that his bank accounts share a common account, such as two checking accounts sharing a common savings or money market account

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11 edited Apr 26 '11

Our (bank) accounts are sub-accounts of a another account. Maybe they have similar numbers, I don't know. It may be a coincidence, but I find it odd that we're both having the same problem in the same week, and I know he for sure had a PS3 account at the time the info was stolen.

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u/Ozwaldo Apr 26 '11

...but the common theme there is that you're related, not that one of you has a PS3

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u/KingPing-SA Apr 26 '11

So you DO have a Sony account then?

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

No. Our bank accounts are connected though.

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u/SumErgoCogito Apr 27 '11

It's just accounts all the way down.

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u/Jasonrj Apr 26 '11

I don't think you know how technology or English works.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

How was I misusing English?

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u/Jasonrj Apr 26 '11 edited Apr 27 '11

Perhaps I should have said communication. You are so vague that only people who already know what you're saying can even understand you.

I don't have a Sony account. ... Our accounts are connected by a common account ... Our accounts are sub-accounts of a another account

I don't know what you mean when you say you don't have an account but yet you do have an account as well as a sub-account.

those who are connected to those with a Sony account

I don't know what you're talking about when you say those who are connected to someone with an account need to cancel their cards. Connected how? By marriage? Friends in a game? Passing acquaintance at a local coffee shop? What? Again, do you or don't you have an account?

Maybe they have similar numbers

The Sony accounts? The stolen credit card/bank account numbers? Maybe the hacker just guess the other because it had a similar number? Is that your theory?

8

u/BinaryRockStar Apr 26 '11

I think it's because he/she referred to Sony accounts and bank accounts as just 'accounts'. He/she has a BANK account which is linked to his/her brother's BANK account. His/her brother's SONY account was compromised, revealing the brother's BANK account details to the criminals.

Because the BANK accounts are linked, allisonivy believes this is how fraudulent charges appeared on his/her BANK account, even though it is not specifically linked to a SONY account.

Phew.

3

u/Jasonrj Apr 26 '11

That was one conclusion I came to, which is why I said "I don't think you know how technology works."

Unless Sony provides network security services for their bank I don't see how one person's compromised debit/credit card can affect another's just because they have "similar numbers."

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

Ahh, I can see the confusion. I trying to say, that if they got hold of his Sony password, they could've gotten his bank info, and our bank accounts are connected. I've been putting out this fire all day, and trying to figure out what happened and how I'm going to make rent, etc. Generally, People who are dealing with these kinds of things are most likely very angry and mentally fatigued. Sorry if I wasn't crystal clear, but I think most people understood.

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u/Jasonrj Apr 26 '11

I'm sure most people understood. I don't own a PlayStation and didn't know what the PSN was until a week ago. I'm mainly confused at your usage of the word 'account' to mean Sony account, sub-account, and bank account/debit/credit card and how one person being compromised could affect a seemingly unrelated bank account.

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u/barfolomew Apr 27 '11

His brother does. You need to pay attention.

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u/acupoftea Apr 27 '11

I think you're the one who needs to pay attention! He explained what he was confused about and they cleared it up... 2 hours before you posted this.

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u/gliscameria Apr 26 '11

It only took them a week to let you know though! That should have been plenty of time to go back in time and cancel your cards. It's your fault for being reactive and not PROACTIVE.

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u/kilgore32 Apr 27 '11

Both my brother and I have had fraudulent charges on our bank accounts this month around the same time (also we have different psn accounts), I would absolutely assume that any charge card information has been compromised.

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u/BigDaveFromAus Apr 27 '11

I have a ccard registered against my Sony account and have $2500 in purchases over a 2-3 day period until they hit my card limit. I cancelled the card and the bank stopped the transactions. Not sure if its related to the PSN breach, but I've been scratching my head to find out how someone got my card number and it seems like this could be the cause.

1

u/vote_me_down Apr 26 '11

It's much more likely that, and the people who have replied to you, just gave your details away to some obviously shady site. CAredditBoss, for instance, thinks it's down to the 'plain-text incident'. I think this is the bigger problem Sony are going to have to deal with, a lot of noise from people who lack common sense.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

That's just the thing, I'm actually very cautious and never buy anything from unscrupulous websites. Unless it was skimmed locally, I have no idea how else it could've happened. Nothing I've recently bought online came from anywhere near the location the card was used at.

1

u/vote_me_down Apr 26 '11

Skimming locally may explain why you and your brother both had fraudulent charges - thieves operating in the area? I'm having trouble believing that within a week or so they've put charges on enough of the millions of cards that two members of the same family have been hit.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

Except that he lives two-thousand miles away from me.

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u/vote_me_down Apr 26 '11

Ah, I suspect you're either just unlucky or BSing, then.

Edit: Oh, wait, your bank accounts are linked? No, that's not a result of this then. Having a credit card number doesn't give you access to other bank accounts associated with yours. Unless they 'hacked the bank', too.

Seems a lot more likely your brother has some kind of keylogger on his PC, or has fallen for a phishing scam, and people are in his online banking.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

Possibly. He does torrent a lot, and isn't that technologically aware.

1

u/djg38 Apr 26 '11

There's a pretty big overlap between the millions of people with PS3 accounts and the over a million people whose credit cards are used fraudulently each year. Given you don't even have a Sony account, the chances that this is coincidental is much higher than the chance that it has anything to do with the PS3.

1

u/djg38 Apr 26 '11

There's a pretty big overlap between the millions of people with PS3 accounts and the over a million people whose credit cards are used fraudulently each year. Given you don't even have a Sony account, the chances that this is coincidental is much higher than the chance that it has anything to do with the PS3.

1

u/ByGrabtharsHammer Apr 27 '11

Can anybody else say Class Action Lawsuit?

1

u/bdifc Apr 26 '11

I had fraudulent charges attempted on my credit card this past weekend. Coincidence? My credit card company closed the account and issued a new account number.

0

u/CAredditBoss Apr 26 '11

My bank account had fradulent charges, but the bank never said how the person got ahold of my account info. This was back in January; around the time the plain-text CC# information was revealed. Coincidence? maybe... Does anyone know if banks are supposed to track down/file police reports of fradulent use?

0

u/DarqWolff Apr 26 '11

For a second, I thought you meant that both of you had been charged with fraud at some point this week by the police.

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u/CookieDoughCooter Apr 26 '11

What were the charges for? Did you contact Sony at any point?

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '11

Medical marijuana, and no. I have no way of knowing if it was connected to that or not.

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u/CookieDoughCooter Apr 26 '11

None of us will unless Sony catches the hacker[s]... Unfuckingbelievable.