Update 5 - RESOLVED:
I received a call from an Escalation Analyst at Sony today! He let me know that they had performed an investigation regarding my account, and concluded that my credentials had become compromised. The IP was traced to somewhere in Europe (he didn't specify). He let me know that Sony would make sure that my account was taken care of. He also assured me that the Sony HQ had been made aware of my situation, and that they'll be examining the details to see if there ought to be a change to their policies.
I'm glad to have my situation resolved, but I'm more glad to see the positive outcomes that have come as a result of this blowing up. I've received many messages from Redditors who have become aware of and/or donated to the charities listed below, and many more from users taking extra precautions to protect their accounts. I think all gamers benefit when the game company giants are competing, and while my situation was unfortunate, I don't think Sony is malicious or evil. They're a big company with millions of customers and employees, and sometimes things fall through the cracks.
I've been made aware of a feature request for two-factor authentication in Sony's ideas board. If you have a PSN account, throw it an upvote!
Update 4:
I received some messages from (I presume) customer service reps at Sony, telling me to message a particular member of Sony's support team on their forums. I've done so, and s/he is looking into the situation.
Wow... I never anticipated this would blow up as big as it has! I appreciate all of the messages of support. If this moves Sony to reconsider their policies and invest in better account security, it'll all be worth it.
Update 3:
I've received several offers from Redditors willing to gift me copies of the Last of Us and other games / credits, and I can't express enough how much I appreciate it. It's nice to remember how many good people there are out there. I make a decent living, though, and I'll be able to take care of this either way. My goal here is bring attention to a few of Sony's bad customer service policies in the hopes that they'll change them, and to encourage them to add more security measures to PSN (such as multi-factor authorization, which is supported by both MS and Steam).
If you feel the desire to give, I'd be thrilled to see donations to a worthy charity instead, such as Child's Play or Able Gamers.
Update 2:
This post was briefly taken off of /r/gaming. I have no idea why. Now it's back!
Update: I was advised to contact @AskPlaystation over Twitter (with this thread in the tweet). I did so, and they directed me to chat. I wasn't terribly optimistic that it would help, but I gave it a shot. Here's the transcript. Nothing has changed, and they won't do anything about it. If you have a minute and a Twitter account, I'd love it if any / all of you could tweet @AskPlaystation with a link to this thread! Some folks are adding the hashtag #PlayersBeforePolicy - that sounds like a good idea to me.
TL;DR: My account got hacked, running up over $600 in charges. Here's the conclusion after running through the Sony support gauntlet.
They can only refund up to $150.
I can dispute the charges with my bank, but that will result in my account being banned.
I cannot unban my account, and will thus lose my purchases ("but you only have the Last of Us and some of our free games, so it's not a big deal")
Whomever hacked my account deactivated my PS4, and activated their own. Customer support will only permit one activation every 6 months. I'm locked out of logging into my own account on my PS4 for six months.
Chat transcript: http://ift.tt/1MumRLg
This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account.
As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank.
The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.
He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.
I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account. Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I'm completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I "only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games," so it's not a big deal.
Absolutely furious. Change your passwords, everyone. Better yet, don't have your credit card on file with Sony - if something were to happen, you won't be taken care of.
Clarification edits:
- If you read the transcript, 'Malcom' seems to indicate that the full amount could be refunded upon completion of the investigation. I called to confirm this, and the supervisor I spoke to informed me that there was a maximum of $150 even after investigation.
- Apparently, this has been happening to others too, lately.
- Another one!
- And another one!
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