Origin users report account hacks

Some users have reported recent Origin hacks, and EA support says it is "escalating" its look into the claims.

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You may want to get a random password generator and keep an eye on your e-mail if you're an Origin user. Some users have reported recent hacks to their accounts, after being notified of unauthorized password changes via e-mail.

A NeoGAF thread (via Eurogamer) documents a handful of cases of the hacks. In the worst case, it locked a user out of his or her account, leading to a frustrating recovery process. EA support reportedly said it is "escalating" its look into the hacks.

While EA support can restore the accounts, which is the point of e-mail notification in the first place, it can be a bit of a hassle. The problem may not be widespread, but it's best to err on the side of caution. Shacknews has contacted EA and will update as more information becomes available.

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  • reply
    November 14, 2012 9:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Origin users report account hacks.

    Some users have reported recent Origin hacks, and EA support says it is "escalating" its look into the claims.

    • reply
      November 14, 2012 10:42 AM

      I had this happen to me last week (Sunday, 11/4). Received a random email address change notification and sure enough, couldn't get to the account. What's worse is that Origin's support site tells you to login to get help. WHAAAAAAT? There's supposedly a live chat that doesn't need a login, but it was conveniently "missing" for the two days I tried to fix it (11/7 & 11/8). Luckily, I found that there is a EA support phone number (866-543-5435). The first person I was transferred to answered "Hello?" like it was his house (probably was), and just hung up. Luckily EA gets out of a total reaming by me, because the second time I called back, I got a US-based rep who was very familiar with the issue (seemed to be a ton of hacks in the past week or so) and was extremely helpful. KUDOS to that guy. Everything is all better now. :)

      • reply
        November 14, 2012 10:54 AM

        'hack' - I used the same password elsewhere and someone is trying them off a list that was leaked from another site, like say: Blizzard, Valve, Facebook, linked in, Xbox Live, PSNetwork, or any of the other thousands of sites that have had logins+emails+password lists leaked.

        You, of course, didn't happen to use the same password somewhere else, right?

        • reply
          November 14, 2012 11:10 AM

          I know where you're going with this. Indeed it was used on another service, but none of the above. But you're point is regarding the use of the word "hack". I hesitated to use this term in my post, but decided to stay consistent with the misuse of the term in the original story. I would agree that all of these came from a leaked list of ID+password combos.

    • reply
      November 14, 2012 11:16 AM

      Oh dam sucks for the whole 2-3 people who use it.

      • reply
        November 14, 2012 11:46 AM

        Seemed like more than 2 last night in BF3.

        • reply
          November 14, 2012 11:52 AM

          Come on, it's cool to hate on EA. Let him have this.

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