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PSA: Activate your Two Step Verification on PSN, folks (Bad Story Inside)

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GrubChub

GrubChub

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,106
Whelp, it happened to me. About a month and a half ago I got an email saying the email address associated with my PSN was changed. I immediately contacted Sony Support to try to fix this. By the time I got a response this person activated 2SV. I managed to get the email address changed back that day, and I changed the password to a much more secure password.

However, it seems PSN Support requires you to give them the serial number for the system you used to create the account. The issue with this is that is a launch PS3 that died a few years back, so I don't really have access to that anymore. Luckily for me I am an idiot and went 99.9% digital this gen. So now I am screwed out of my account that I have had for around 13 years and can't get anybody at Sony to help me out. They say they need me to verify it is mine before making any changes, which is HILARIOUS to me considering they let this person change my email without ANY verification. I am accustomed to getting an email that asks for verification of a change that big, but apparently Sony isn't very smart with this kind of stuff.

So guys, even if you are like me and went back to PC gaming primarily and just figured you'd get around to adding the 2SV when the next exclusive came along... go do it now. Don't be like me.

But at least I left it to where this guy can't get into the account, either.
 
Lothars

Lothars

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,765
Id contact them and escalate it, they should be able to verify you and ideally get you account back, no matter what you should always enable 2 factor on any account and it seems like it's just as much on you for not. I hope you get your account back.
 
Dest

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
Coward
Jun 4, 2018
14,070
Work
PSA: Activate 2FA on everything because literally nothing is safe.

also the all digital future is great innit
 
Cheezeman3000

Cheezeman3000

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 5, 2018
1,092
Wait... they asked you for the PS3 serial that you created the account on? Considering the high failure rate of OG PS3s, I would imagine most if not all people no longer have this information. -_-
 
aisback

aisback

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,745
It happened to me before and went through twitter to get it resolved.

I've put on 2FA due to that experience
 

Deleted member 43084

Banned
May 9, 2018
3,600
Also use a non-SMS 2FA app (like Authy) if it's supported by the platform to avoid SimJacking attacks.

(Sony does not support non-SMS 2FA)
 
Inuhanyou

Inuhanyou

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,214
New Jersey
i did this years ago...not only is it better for security. but it actually is far more convenient to have things connected to your phone
 
OP
OP
GrubChub

GrubChub

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,106
Lothars said:
Id contact them and escalate it, they should be able to verify you and ideally get you account back, no matter what you should always enable 2 factor on any account and it seems like it's just as much on you for not. I hope you get your account back.
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There seems to be no escalation. That is my main reason for making this thread. To warn people how TERRIBLE Sony Support has been.

psynergyadept said:
Sorry to hear OP; set mine up after it went live, there were alot of horror stories back on gaf.
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I read those. I'm dumb.

Cheezeman3000 said:
Wait... they asked you for the PS3 serial that you created the account on? Considering the high failure rate of OG PS3s, I would imagine most if not all people no longer have this information. -_-
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Yup. It is INSANE that they ask for this information. They require some other information, but I have all of that. This is the ONLY thing I am missing. It is infuriating.

aisback said:
It happened to me before and went through twitter to get it resolved.

I've put on 2FA due to that experience
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I've tried Twitter. They LITERALLY just ignore me now. I am not "blocked" but I have not gotten ONE response in a month.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,261
Hey Sony, please provide support for authenticator apps, not the current vulnerable SMS solution, OK? Even Nintendo supports authenticators!
 
Canas Renvall

Canas Renvall

Banned
Mar 4, 2018
2,535
This made me go double-check and make sure my 2FA was active, and it is. Thankfully!

Very annoyed that they only do SMS though. Would love an authenticator app for added security.
 
OP
OP
GrubChub

GrubChub

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,106
Glad some people are taking this to heart. It really sucks. I just wish there was a person that could look into it more in depth, but everybody I have talked to over there have told me to just start a new account which is hilarious to me.

But man, I want Death Stranding so bad :\.
 
defaltoption

defaltoption

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
11,492
Austin
Similar situation happened to me around PS4 launch, I had my account stolen and my card was charged for hundreds so my Bank called me and I said it wasn't me they charged it back my account got banned and I lost thousands spent in games on ps3 4 and vita, close to 10 years of plus games and trophies. Like how was I supposed to know a chargeback can't be done on psn accounts, someone stole my money and I told my bank it wasn't me. I was fuckin pissed stopped gaming on consoles from 2013 to late 2018 but I'm back on PlayStation I just missed the exclusives and trophy hunting. Fuck Sony and their shitty practices regarding accounts. Everyone should be required to use 2 factor.
 
Jeffram

Jeffram

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,924
Hope it gets worked out.

Someone I know had their IP spoofed by a hacker and even intercepted the two step and changed the password (to steal rocket league cosmetics) but Sony was able to sort it out and get his account back
 
Spacejaws

Spacejaws

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,846
Scotland
Wish you didn't have to use your phone. I was locked out twice when signal works cut the phone signal in my area for a day and again when I broke my phone and had to send it off for a week. I've changed Uplay to use my email which I suppose is not nearly as secure but damnit if I'm going to lose my phone or number am I getting locked out of these accounts forever?
 
OP
OP
GrubChub

GrubChub

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,106
Lothars said:
I've seen multiple instances of them being able to restore accounts. I'd call back I've had only good experience dealing with them.
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I have contacted them many times. I am not giving up, but it seems like they do not have any way to help me since I don't have a 13 year old serial number. It is nuts.

defaltoption said:
Similar situation happened to me around PS4 launch, I had my account stolen and my card was charged for hundreds so my Bank called me and I said it wasn't me they charged it back my account got banned and I lost thousands spent in games on ps3 4 and vita, close to 10 years of plus games and trophies. Like how was I supposed to know a chargeback can't be done on psn accounts, someone stole my money and I told my bank it wasn't me. I was fuckin pissed stopped gaming on consoles from 2013 to late 2018 but I'm back on PlayStation I just missed the exclusives and trophy hunting. Fuck Sony and their shitty practices regarding accounts. Everyone should be required to use 2 factor.
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Yeah, I am VERY glad I didn't have my updated card info on the account. I started to just use the PSN cards to add funds instead. Saved my bank account a lot.

Jeffram said:
Hope it gets worked out.

Someone I know had their IP spoofed by a hacker and even intercepted the two step and changed the password (to steal rocket league cosmetics) but Sony was able to sort it out and get his account back
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I hope so, too.

genjiZERO said:
OP never take no for an answer in this situation. Keep on them until they do something.
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I am not taking no. I am going to keep trying, but I want everybody to go ahead and add it so they don't have to go through this. I have contacted them over the phone and via the chat function. Nobody has helped me yet. And best of all they ignore me on Twitter, so now I just troll @playstation and @askplaystation.
 
BrickArts295

BrickArts295

GOTY Tracking Thread Master
Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,794
I just realized that I created my PSN account on a friend's PSP in like 2008. I already have 2step but if I ever get in a situation like OP, it's going to be a bad day for me XD
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
PaulKersey said:
Whelp, it happened to me. About a month and a half ago I got an email saying the email address associated with my PSN was changed. I immediately contacted Sony Support to try to fix this. By the time I got a response this person activated 2SV. I managed to get the email address changed back that day, and I changed the password to a much more secure password.

However, it seems PSN Support requires you to give them the serial number for the system you used to create the account. The issue with this is that is a launch PS3 that died a few years back, so I don't really have access to that anymore. Luckily for me I am an idiot and went 99.9% digital this gen. So now I am screwed out of my account that I have had for around 13 years and can't get anybody at Sony to help me out. They say they need me to verify it is mine before making any changes, which is HILARIOUS to me considering they let this person change my email without ANY verification. I am accustomed to getting an email that asks for verification of a change that big, but apparently Sony isn't very smart with this kind of stuff.

So guys, even if you are like me and went back to PC gaming primarily and just figured you'd get around to adding the 2SV when the next exclusive came along... go do it now. Don't be like me.

But at least I left it to where this guy can't get into the account, either.
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OP, are you in the US?

If so, file an arbitration claim.
 

Timexy

Member
Oct 30, 2017
256
watdaeff4 said:
What sucks is that I read an article how these thieves have figured out how to get around 2atep verifications
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AFAIK only for SMS 2FA like Sony's implementation, but it's not so easily hackable everywhere. Other implementations like those apps you use to scan a QR code are fine.

As much as OP has my sympathy and I hope they ultimately recover their account I can't blame Sony. Nowadays 2FA is a must and not having it enabled is the user fault. If anything Sony could enforce it and implement something other than SMS, but that's it.
 
Heh

Heh

Member
Dec 12, 2017
611
Done! I haven't touched my playstation for a couple years. My account was safe, still appreciate the heads ups. Thank you.
 
watdaeff4

watdaeff4

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,451
Timexy said:
AFAIK only for SMS 2FA like Sony's implementation, but it's not so easily hackable everywhere. Other implementations like those apps you use to scan a QR code are fine.

As much as OP has my sympathy and I hope they ultimately recover their account I can't blame Sony. Nowadays 2FA is a must and not having it enabled is the user fault. If anything Sony could enforce it and implement something other than SMS, but that's it.
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Yes the hack I read about involved SMS 2FA

Sony could still do due diligence and get him his account back somehow other companies seem to have the capability to so can we stop with the victim blaming here? Let's not give Sony a free pass
 
DQDQDQ

DQDQDQ

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
139
Timexy said:
I can't blame Sony. Nowadays 2FA is a must and not having it enabled is the user fault. If anything Sony could enforce it and implement something other than SMS, but that's it.
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We could not blame the victim. "Shouldn't have left your car parked on the street, you were asking for it to be stolen!"

All it takes is somebody from Sony who isn't completely useless at their job to look at an IP login log. It'll probably say the same basic IP 10,000 times, then once in the Middle East, at which point the email address was changed, 2FA added by the thief, changed PSN real name, changed PSN user name. It is obvious, yet they ask for information that's over a decade old that extremely few people would have on file.
 
Gamer @ Heart

Gamer @ Heart

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,639
I wish 2SV was as secure as you think. Luckily it will stop most people, but anyone serious about wanting to get in can.

My friend has a really good psn name people have tried to bribe/trick/hack their way into getting from him.

All it took is one lousy customer service rep who didn't care or wasn't trained and someone stole the account from him, even with 2 step active. This fucker was changing things MINUTES after my friend corrected it. He spent half a dozen hours on the phone over a week, and got escalated all the way to a senior security guy at sony. His account now has a special flag internally for any changes whatsoever.
 
Seafoam Gaming

Seafoam Gaming

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 3, 2017
2,692
I find 2FA to be annoying and a waste of time on most platforms (Especially the ones that are overly picky and make you change your password so damn much) but luckily having the site remember the info makes it less of a pain. My biggest gripe with sony's 2FA is that it's totally busted on PS3/PSP as it makes it impossible to do a local transfer of games between the two and despite this being a thing for 3-4 years they STILL won't fix it. You have to disable 2FA each and every single time whenever you want to transfer a game like Castlevania Chronicles over and it's so mindnumbingly dumb. Not to mention you have to use a really long random password on PS3/Vita/PSP and I think the fact they don't match is why the transfer fails but Sony just won't fix it.

Works great for PS4 though (since you don't use those random long passwords) and I still think it's a must have to activate but if anyone knows of a workaround to the PSP/PS3 transfer nonsense you'll be my new best friend if I could find a way to keep 2FA on and do it. i'd also like to know how to do 2FA with my japanese account as I don't know if a US phone would cause super high pricing... I would no brainer recommend 2FA on most other websites since usually it's quick and easy to save your info and never bother with constantly relogging in, but The PS3/PSP transfer frustrations makes me want to shut off Two Step.
 
Dash Kappei

Dash Kappei

Member
Nov 1, 2017
4,851
Since Sony's 2sv is tied to my phone number and can't use an Authenticator like I can for basically anything else I have 2sv on, what happens if i lose access to my current phone/number?
 
dom

dom

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,461
Dash Kappei said:
Since Sony's 2sv is tied to my phone number and can't use an Authenticator like I can for basically anything else I have 2sv on, what happens if i lose access to my current phone/number?
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You get a lock out key when you initially set it up.

As far as SMS not being secure. Only if you're a high profile target would that really matter. Ain't no one gonna bother trying to social engineer to get your phone activated on a different sim card when they can just try the next account.
 
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