Attention players with Compromised Accounts

[Vauce]

I got ahold of them last night about 30 mins after they were suppose to be closed and got the same 3 second answer is that they dont have information about the account and to wait for another email. Is there something special i should say? Or keep trying till i get someone that wants to help me?

-Sammo

I would definitely recommend the live support over the phone. I open it up on my second monitor at work and I can keep on working and keep an eye on it. And yeah, expect it to take a long time. I started my last one up at 9:30AM PST and they got to me ~4.5 hours later.

When you talk to whatever rep gets you, tell him that you still haven't received the email with the notary form. Be polite, cause as clueless as these guys are, they don't have the real authority to do anything. They just relay the information on to the STFU in Japan.

If the rep tells you to "just wait", send me a PM and I'll forward you the email they sent me with the form. Don't get your hopes up though, I got that email about 3 months ago... but hey, its a start.

[Valoure]

lost account Dec. 12th... finally got this email today. will have to call them tomorrow. wish me luck!

Dear Customer,

We have verified the information you have provided on the notary form. Our records match the information you have given. Please contact the PlayOnline Information Center for further assistance with your account. We ask that you have the following information ready when you contact us. It is understandable that you may not have everything requested below, however please have the information that you have provided in past conversations with the PlayOnline Information Center.

Name:
DoB:
Address:
PlayOnline Registration code:
First 4 and last 4 digits of the credit card:
Email address that the Notary form was sent to:
Confirmation number of receipt of this email: xxxxxx

Thank you

Note: Please do not reply to this email. For all questions or concerns relating to this matter please contact the PlayOnline Information Center by chat or phone.

[Mystics]

Good luck Valoure hey when did u send in ur notary form?
and let us know if u was rollbacked already.. the Dec hackings shouldn't have to put up with that rollback waiting list since it was crazy long on the pending investigation(no offence to anybody waiting for the rollback from recent hacks but im sure yall would feel the same if you've been waiting months)

Just got off the phone with SE and im still pending investigation... basically the same old stuff.. (give information, put on hold for 1-2min, say sorry but the investigation is pending there is no ETA and Say I understand u've been waiting this long but u should be hearing something soon)

lol And people cry for 4 weeks for a rollback -.- try waiting 7 months after reporting ur account was hacked and whats worst it could be more months lol and then theres the question that i might have to go through rollback which could be more days/weeks of waiting

[Sammo]

Good luck Valoure hey when did u send in ur notary form?
and let us know if u was rollbacked already.. the Dec hackings shouldn't have to put up with that rollback waiting list since it was crazy long on the pending investigation(no offence to anybody waiting for the rollback from recent hacks but im sure yall would feel the same if you've been waiting months)

Just got off the phone with SE and im still pending investigation... basically the same old stuff.. (give information, put on hold for 1-2min, say sorry but the investigation is pending there is no ETA and Say I understand u've been waiting this long but u should be hearing something soon)

lol And people cry for 4 weeks for a rollback -.- try waiting 7 months after reporting ur account was hacked and whats worst it could be more months lol and then theres the question that i might have to go through rollback which could be more days/weeks of waiting

Yea man I know how you feel last night i aited o hold for an hr and got a guy. Basicaly he asked me name address and such but he said oooo wrong address. *puts on hold* Then I told him "Hey 6 moths ago i talked a SE rep he said I am ging to go ahead and put you in our new comprime account program. But I never sent a notary letter in and never got a email asking for one." He puts me o hold again to verfiy things. Then comes back and said it seems we tried to send you emails and gives me a email address that isnt mine. Im like that is probably the hackers emal address or something. Then he takes mine down and finally says well your in the program it says Sttill pending investigation.

Anyone else have there hacker give there email and try to get the account back after it was frozen from this program? I DO have this guys email now tho. /grin

[Raji]

I know what you mean >< While I'm glad that SE is finally taking this whole thing seriously and starting to actually institute a recovery process that takes weeks rather than months, my overall feeling is "what the fuck took you guys so long?" (not even going into all the people who waited in suspense for 6 months just to be told "Nope, you're banned, you're gonna stay banned, have a nice day!")

For a company that wants (and needs, if the recent financial report is anything to go by) our money so badly, they sure don't make it easy for us to give it to them, or even WANT to give it to them.

Anyone else have there hacker give there email and try to get the account back after it was frozen from this program? I DO have this guys email now tho. /grin

Pr0n spammail lists. NAO!!! And don't stop until his "new mail" counter hits the quad digits!

[FFXId00d]

Just got main account back yesterday. The account had been in stasis for some time with most of the gil items moved onto another account (thankfully). I did notice, after it had been returned to me, that most of my kingdom seals had been used up. (3 full stacks reduced to 71) Additionally, my inventory was ladened with a heart snatcher, anubis knife, and various stones that drop from ks30's. Whoever had the account had enough brains to clean out my assault points from all areas, CP, and IS but didn't touch 7 full stacks of beastman seals >.> (kraken club bc anyone?). 3 weeks wait time for me and the account was compromised in november of 2007 for all those wondering.

[Aryea]

A 3-week wait time with no rollback? Are you going to initiate one?

[Telamon]

Jen, thank you so much for hosting the Canadian form

I was getting very stressed out over this ordeal, and talking to playonline was not helping at all.

Big big thank you!

[Jeny]

Jen, thank you so much for hosting the Canadian form

I was getting very stressed out over this ordeal, and talking to playonline was not helping at all.

Big big thank you!

Glad I could help. ^^

[Varus]

So, yea, I don't know what to say... I got may account back yesterday. Got in touch with a GM at about 10PM. Filed for the recovery. And this afternoon, I check my mail and I received the completion email. I'm like there's no way this is right. I log on like it tells me. And the GM unlocks the account. I log in and it's like it was December 6th all over again. I had all my gear and gil, I hadn't completed the gobby bags that I did that night, I lost a few levels on my PLD that I got on the morning of the 7th (the day I was hacked). The shortest rollback I've ever heard of: less than 24 hours. I don't know what to say... My only theory is that they already prepared the rollback and when I requested it, it was already done. So, I'm happy to be back on the game and the point where I left off. Hope you others don't give up hope.

*minor irrelevant note* One thing that disappointed me was that I was missing 10k Assault points for Leujoaom (sp?), I was only 500 points away from yigit pants!

[Emmaline]

May I ask a question of clarification? From what I can tell.... you were able to have your account returned to you but when you asked for a "rollback," they denied the request because they did not find 3rd party access? If this is what you mean, people need to stop calling "rollbacks" "Character Restores." I realize SE may use this terminology, but it's a bit confusing.

Yes thats right, I just got off the phone with them... this was the email i recieved... basically a reworded version of the successful emails

Dear Customer: We would like to give you an update regarding the game data recovery request for a compromised account. We have completed our investigation based on the information you provided. At the conclusion of the investigation we were unable to find any evidence of the PlayOnline ID being accessed by a third party. Due to this, we were unable to fulfill your request for game data restoration. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, and we appreciate your continued use of the PlayOnline services. PlayOnline Information CenterTelephone: (858) 790 - 7529Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Information Center or in-game support. Please do not respond to this email. This email is generated by an automated service.

Seriously wtf.... how can you not find any evidence of the my ID being accessed by a 3rd pt? My CC info was changed, my address on the account was changed, the server i was on was changed, I mean seriously WTF man.... Whats odd is that my character was moved to sylph but its now back on odin without the need to do a world transfer unless i choose to move the mule i made over to hold the items i was left with since i was used as a RMT farm bot. In all i can get about 1/3 of what was stolen back.

When i asked the rep why it wasnt suscessful he told me its POSSIBLY due to how far back i was compromised... I even gave him an exact time and location on when and where i was hacked... I'm terribly dissatisfied about this outcome but if somehow i am compromised once again, IF i get access to my character again and IF i chose to return, i can try another game data recovery but if I do get hacked once more, I'm just calling it quits... 6 months of waiting only to get back less than half of what i was stolen with...

I'm waiting on hold right now in the exact same situation. I even asked when I first got my account back if they could restore since it was over 3 months back, and the guy said they could. And now them dragging ass for half a year keeps us from the restore designed specifically for this case? SE as a whole = /facepalm. I did see I could log back into my account last night, but didn't go to the game and see what server I was on, guess I could check that. Would be some sly shit if they moved us back, but then "oh we can't restore, fuck off".

edit: They moved me back to my server w/o the restore...

Dear Customer:

We would like to give you an update regarding the game data recovery request for a compromised account.

We have completed our investigation based on the information you provided. At the conclusion of the investigation we were unable to find any evidence of the PlayOnline ID being accessed by a third party. Due to this, we were unable to fulfill your request for game data restoration.

We deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, and we appreciate your continued use of the PlayOnline services.

PlayOnline Information Center
Telephone: (858) 790 - 7529
Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Information Center or in-game support. Please do not respond to this email. This email is generated by an automated service.

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PlayOnline Game Master
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Hacked May 28th Recieved this June 18th at 12am
Not sure how they can't detect 3rd party access to my POL... can I appeal this?

[Emmaline]

Edit to my post above, I guess SE fucked up and sent me the wrong email. Got this beauty in the mailbox this morning, recovery was a complete sucess.
Dear Customer,

We would like to give you an update regarding the game data recovery request for a compromised account.

We have completed our investigation based on the information you provided. At the conclusion of the investigation, we were able to find evidence of the PlayOnline ID being accessed by a third party. Due to this, we were able to fulfill your request for game data restoration and have released the log-in restriction for the PlayOnline ID.
Please log onto Final Fantasy XI and confirm the recovered data.
If there are any issues with the recovered data, please do not reply to this email. For further assistance, please contact the Information Center.

Please be aware that as the recovery request has been fulfilled, we will be unable to process any other game data recovery requests for a compromised account in the future from you, regardless of the reason.
To prevent the account from being compromised, please keep the log-in information safe.

IMPORTANT NOTICES
-Items in delivery and auction will NOT be reimbursed.
-A character name change will be necessary if the previous name is already in use. -Please follow the instructions and create a new name.

We appreciate your continued use of PlayOnline services.

PlayOnline Information Center
Telephone: (858) 790 - 7529
Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Information Center or in-game support. Please do not respond to this email. This email is generated by an automated service.

--------------------------------
PlayOnline Game Master
--------------------------------

[grover]

Finally have my account returned almost the exact same as it was when I left it on 12/14/07. Character has been renamed to Ataike (waiting on a GM to change), and my BLU is now level 8 from 12, but other than that everything seems to be in order. Did lose two mules though, and one had about 50 Wyvern Skins that I was planning to use for my final push to 100 Leathercraft ;;

Good luck to all still waiting...

[Valoure]

Well, I called POL yesterday after the maintenance. Got my account released, new password, logged in and was content with what I found. They sold my GK, my hauby, my noct+1 gear set, and if anything else then it was unimportant to remember having. I still had all my CP, IP... they wiped out my K.seals. I had about 140K on my main and about 3k between my two mules. ( mules were pretty much untouched.) I did get my char back with a nice Shura Togi though, so I think I can forgive the missing hauby ( they are cheaper now than when I originally got mine anyway).

My problem is with the fact that, though I did not do the initial server transfer, I was informed that unless I did the "Character Restore" then I would have to pay to be put back on my original server. I was also billed for January, though my account was compromised in December. I had them put in a request to have that charge removed and reimbursed. As for the server transfer, there is no sign of me being charged (YET) for the original transfer, will see when I get July billing.

After I got off the phone with the rep about the server transfer, I was going to just goof off on the server I was on, and found out that at some point during my conversation with the rep, I was in fact put back on my original server... they never asked me what my original server was so I really don't know how that happened or if I will be charged for it.

To Mystics: Account lost Dec. 12th, frozen sometime in January when they decided it was time to "help" us out, sent in notary form feb. 11th they got and signed for it feb. 12th. Been waiting since then for any good new, then finally just gave up and checked my email 1 time a day. Crappy thing is, I had started over with a new account... 13 more lvls i would have a 75 monk... go figure...

[Zale00]

Hey there, this topic really helped me out in getting my account back.

I sent in my notary form last monday and I just now got the email, the guy gave me my new info and Im logging in right now. Says I have to wait for a GM call though.

[Mystics]

If its going by first come first serve then yea i guess i have a few more days/ about 2-3 more weeks.. Hacked Dec 9th sent Locked Jan 4th Notary March 4th

Btw Valoure did ur charecter come rolled back or u have to go through that process?

[Rumari]

Was hacked about 2 months ago and just got my account back and thought i'd let you guys know what i had to do.

Apparently the original GM i spoke to (not to mention a customer support rep a few weeks back) never put in to do the roll back on my account. So when i called Customer Support, they told me this and put in for the request. After about 6 hours, i had an E-mail saying my account could be logged into and the data recovery was completed. (Note: The rep told me that they already investigated and did find that someone other then myself had logged into my account around the time i said i had been hacked, so that part of the investigation was complete already.)

So for anyone that has been waiting awhile, call and make sure the people actually have your account set to actually *get* the data recovery.

[Valoure]

Btw Valoure did ur charecter come rolled back or u have to go through that process?

I was not rolled back. I was given the option to roll back or to keep it as is. Doing the roll back "supposedly" was my only option in order to be put back on my original server without paying. As I stated in my previous post, they moved me anyway tho I do not know if I will be charged yet. I have to wait until July billing.

[Kirschy]

Sharing my experience:

I got hacked about a month ago. I had my character locked about 25 min into the hacking by using calling a GM on an alternate FFXI account. All I needed was basic info on the account:

Name/Race/Gender/Server/Nationality/Level of all characters on Content ID.

The GM locked my account within 5 mins of giving this info. The GM then asked me for the following info to help /w the investigation:

Date/Time last logged out.
Name of ISP
Do you log on from other locations?
Were you aware of any virus on your PC before the hacking?

I contacted SE the next day on Monday and spoke to a customer rep who asked me some billing info.

First and Last Name/dob/first four and last four digits of card/ffxi content ID

He unlocked the account and gave me a new password. I logged in to find 100+ million missing in gear and gil, and good chunk of rare/ex missing (some of which is difficult to obtain.) I called a GM and requested a restore. I copied some of the convo:

[14:53:21][GM]Xandamere>> I am very sorry to hear you experienced all this. I know it can be a very frustrating experience to have this

[14:53:26][GM]Xandamere>> happen and lose gil and items.

[14:53:43]>>Xandamere : yes . I was hoping since I caught it so quick to have a rollback done ?

[14:53:46][GM]Xandamere>> We do offer a game data recovery service that can restore your account to a time before the compromise

[14:53:48][GM]Xandamere>> happened.

[14:54:05]>>Xandamere : That would be perfect. Will this be possible?

[14:54:39][GM]Xandamere>> Before we proceed, please make sure to read about the terms of this service on http://www.playonline.com to see if you

[14:54:44][GM]Xandamere>> agree with the terms.

[14:55:10]>>Xandamere : I believe I read over them when they were announced. This is a one-time thing, correct?

[14:55:42][GM]Xandamere>> Yes, and please keep in mind that this will reset everything back to the way it was on the day for the rollback.

[14:56:11]>>Xandamere : Is it possible to know how far back this rollback will go. I realize I don't have much choice on the

[14:56:37]>>Xandamere : matter, but I did do an event before the compromise took place, and I wonder if this will affect that

[14:56:40][GM]Xandamere>> Anything changed or obtained after the day we roll the account back to will have been lost, included gained

[14:56:49][GM]Xandamere>> levels and completed missions/quests.

[14:56:55]>>Xandamere : Is it possible to the know the date/time the rollback to go back to?

[14:57:37][GM]Xandamere>> Unfortunately, I cannot tell you exactly when the account will be rolled back to but I do assure you that we will try

[14:57:47][GM]Xandamere>> our best to roll it back to a date close to when it was compromised.

[14:57:52]>>Xandamere : Alright, I understand. Yes I would like to do that

[15:08:32][GM]Xandamere>> Is there anything else at all I can assist you with today?

[15:08:43]>>Xandamere : Can you tell me about how long this proceedure takes?

[15:09:09][GM]Xandamere>> It will take at least 7 business days, sometimes it can be a bit logner.

[15:10:51]>>Xandamere : Alright, and one last question~ In case I am not contacted by email

[15:10:59]>>Xandamere : Is there a way for me to contact you guys on the status?

[15:12:55][GM]Xandamere>> You can try to log into your account but since it will be locked you will be automatically sent to a GM chat call from

[15:12:58][GM]Xandamere>> the POL viewer.

About 3 weeks after the hacking, Sunday @ 3AM, I got the email saying the restore was complete. Logged in to find myself rolled back to sometime between 3AM and 1PM the day of the hacking. Hacking was at 3:30 PM EST. I keep 7/8 of my incoming DBox full of items that were sent to me over the years. The items were untouched, the last slot being empty. On the AH a Cactrot Rapido earring I sold was returned to me, but obviously wasn't in dbox, so it was lost. For my outgoing dbox, there were three items registered as being sent, but not recieved. When I tried to pull them out, it appeared as though I took them into my inventory, but nothing showed up. Those items were recieved during my lockout, so they weren't lost. CP/IS/AN/AP were all in tact. All signed items restored retianed their original signing. All in all, I lost a worthless earring, and a Khroma Ore I had won from ISNM shortly before the hack.

I read a lot of horror stories about uncooperative GMs, outdated SE policies, and 6mon+ restores. I realize I'm extremely lucky to have action taken so quickly(relatively). Despite the horror stories I've read, I found the GMs/SE to be very helpful. I hope this is reflective of their improved policies and understanding and continues to improve.

In case it matters, I was infected /w smart.dll.

[Purrrfect]

Sounds like their new ways of handling things are much improved. Congrats.