Mingoguaya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,860
Two days ago, my son called me and told me that he couldn't log in to Apex Legends. I guessed that there was some trouble and told him to play something else. He selected Star Wars Battlefront 2, and the same thing happened. Then he logged into Fortnite and he played without a problem. The next day, Apex and all EA Access games were not accessible and greeted me with an Account Invalid message. I tried to reset the password and the reset link never arrived.

I then contacted EA support and they tell me that I need to reset my password. I told them that I was not receiving the email, and then they told me to verify the email. It turns out that the email I have for my account is not the same one as the one for the Xbox Live account. Apparently the email I used to open my account was an old email from 2003 that isn't even available because the email server is closed. So they asked me to send them all the information that I had so they can reset the account with another email. I sent them EVERYTHING I had and they still say is not enough to prove that I am the account owner. So now I can't play ANY EA games. They say that unless I can prove that I am the owner of the account I won't be able to access my games. I went to their support forums and it seems that is a recurring problem and they have a canned response for everyone with the issue.

Tl:dr ; EA locked me out of my account because I don't have access to the email account that was originally used to set up the account.
 
Nov 3, 2017
4,393
Holy shit it wasn't just me!

Different reason though, it was working fine but for me they've voided the account because I used that email address (or someone else did?) for another PSN account

Hope they can work it out for us but I've been reading some forum horror stories about their support and I've gotta say I'm not hopeful
 

Dylan

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,260
That really sucks and I'm sorry to hear. Though if there is zero info connecting you to your old email account, that's a problem. Who ran the old email server? Could you contact them?

I suppose on the plus side, it's easy enough to set yourself up with another email account for Apex Legends as that game is free. The other games won't be accessible though.
 

Pwnz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
14,279
Places
How can that not be enough information? Like your CC, address, DL or passport. Seems like they are bad at verification.
 

Yuntu

Prophet of Regret Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Nov 7, 2019
10,864
Germany
How can that not be enough information? Like your CC, address, DL or passport. Seems like they are bad at verification.

I work for a company with strict verification and lemme tell some of the things they require us to ask from the customer are fucking dumb.
 

finalflame

Product Management
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,538
Yah this is a recurring problem in online accounts, not just EA. Why do you think they should give you the account if you can't prove ownership? How does that differ from them giving some random person access to your account who just says they own it?

Anyway, be persistent about it and they might open up different options or you might get someone willing to do it any way against their better judgement. Just proving your identity is often not sufficient — but also proving your ties to that account. Did you ever redeem any Third party keys, etc You might have receipts for?
 

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,334
Seattle, WA
Had a similar issue a few months back. Took me a couple weeks of going back-and-forth with different customer support agents, but eventually they were able to send me a message on XBL & verify I was the correct account owner. Then I was able to just set up a burner email (apparently I attached my main email to an entirely different EA account years ago) - and got back full access.

Definitely a huge headache, but eventually got it solved. Don't be afraid to just submit multiple tickets. EA's customer support is not the best at returning to a previous session.
 

Bricktop

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,847
I've lost multiple game accounts, mostly MMOs, because the email (Operamail) I used at the time no longer exists. That's why I've gone back and converted everything to an email I know isn't going away. It sucks but it's not exactly an EA issue.
 

Chainshada

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,666
EA is a pain to deal with, lost my Origin account for about 4 months because someone from Russia got into it and cheated in Fifa.
 
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Mingoguaya

Mingoguaya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,860
Yah this is a recurring problem in online accounts, not just EA. Why do you think they should give you the account if you can't prove ownership? How does that differ from them giving some random person access to your account who just says they own it?

Anyway, be persistent about it and they might open up different options or you might get someone willing to do it any way against their better judgement. Just proving your identity is often not sufficient — but also proving your ties to that account. Did you ever redeem any Third party keys, etc You might have receipts for?
I gave them receipts from all the way back to 2016. Also gave them specific information on items that my son had on Apex. The rep also verified that I indeed had the information needed but since I couldn't reset the password via the link there's nothing he could do.
 

DRock

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,184
Does the domain still exist for the email address? If not, can you register it and host your own email temporarily?
 

finalflame

Product Management
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,538
I gave them receipts from all the way back to 2016. Also gave them specific information on items that my son had on Apex. The rep also verified that I indeed had the information needed but since I couldn't reset the password via the link there's nothing he could do.
I'd keep insisting, ask for an escalation. Someone at EA support definitely has the power to restore your account.
 

Luigi87

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,114
If you gave them the receipts, I find it very surprising they won't restore it.
I nearly lost my account a year or two ago, and only managed to get it back because I had luckily found an email containing my key for The Sims Medieval from 2011.
 
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Mingoguaya

Mingoguaya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,860
I'd keep insisting, ask for an escalation. Someone at EA support definitely has the power to restore your account.
I've opened 4 tickets just today. Chatted with 3 different reps and all of them give me the same answer. They can't restore my account without me verifying the email. I have to say that I definitely won't get anything EA related again.
 

F34R

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,035
I have a similar problem, but I do have access to both email addresses used. I can't find them on chat, or a phone number to contact them though. :( USA here.
 
Oct 27, 2017
6,960
The domain does not exist anymore. How can I do this? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

Try a different Origin support person.

There is no way they cannot understand the situation and provide a functional solution. Either they send you a direct link to change the email, or they change it for you.

If it still fails, post logs (black the sensitive info), so we can all point and laugh at how absurd the situation is.
 

Raigor

Member
May 14, 2020
15,215
I had a similar problem and I just needed to prove the ownership of my account by showing retail keys of EA games I bought years ago.
 

gozu

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,442
America
The domain does not exist anymore. How can I do this? I'm willing to try anything at this point.

It's a complex process. Not something to be explained in a short forum post but I did a little legwork for you:

Domain Name: OPERAMAIL.COM
Registry Domain ID: 5545420_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.NameWeb.biz
Registrar URL: http://www.NameWeb.biz
Updated Date: 2020-04-27T09:37:46Z
Creation Date: 1998-05-14T04:00:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-05-13T04:00:00Z
Registrar: NameWeb BVBA
Registrar IANA ID: 1464
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +32.34004343
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited


Apparently, some belgian company is the one you would contact to see if they'd resell to you. I wouldn't hold my breath though. If it's not renewed, it'll expire in 10 months. You may have a shot then...
 

JED BARTLETT

Member
Oct 27, 2017
212
Belfast
This happened to me ages and ages ago. Think the only thing they took as proof was some old DLC codes I'd used. Usually I'd throw this stuff out, but the Mass Effect 3 online pass was still in the box after I'd used it. Sent them the code and they re instated my account. not sure if this is any help to be honest.
 

mordecaii83

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,878
The domain does not exist anymore. How can I do this? I'm willing to try anything at this point.
I know this isn't super helpful but I'd keep trying to talk to different people and hope you eventually reach someone that will just fix the issue for you, I had an issue with Windows that I wasn't able to get fixed until the 5th person I talked with, took me over 3 hours on the phone.
 
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Mingoguaya

Mingoguaya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,860
Try publically shaming EA on Twitter

Works for some corporations
Already tried that. Won't hurt to try again today. Last night I opened the 5th ticket in 2 days. Sent them the previous 4 tickets plus sent them (again) all of the information with order numbers, dates, amounts, descriptions of what I bought, last games played, EA betas I've been a part of.

Edit. Here's the Tweet in case anyone wants to help me spread the word.

 
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Pwnz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
14,279
Places
This has to be a common problem with college kids using University accounts. Or maybe I'm just old and got Gmail as I was leaving in 2006 when everyone just uses Gmail from the start.
 

Aldi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,635
United Kingdom
This happened to me with my sons account last week. Every game was coming up with 'invalid account' error. He couldn't even get into the character select screen on Apex.

I contacted support through twitter and found out that the account was associated with an old Gmail account I don't use anymore. Luckily I did still have access so got it sorted. Seems such a bizarre system they have there. I know that loads of people had their accounts hacked on the fifa ultimate forums so I understand the increased security, but randomly locking people out without reason can't be explained.
 

Ghostfacedon

Member
Apr 17, 2019
1,025
Yep, had this happen to me. Invalid account on every EA game I tried. Turns out the email they had was a yahoo one I created approximately 10 years ago. I just so happened to remember it and gained access to reset password. The whole situation was the most ridiculous shit ever, EA kinda sucks.
 
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Mingoguaya

Mingoguaya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,860
Update : I was able to recover my account after multiple cases opened and shut down and multiple reps helping me. This is the danger of the digital era, they can suspend your access like that, with no warnings and you might not have any recourse at your disposal to fix the situation and be totally dependent on them to fix it for you.
 

cowbanana

Member
Feb 2, 2018
14,039
a Socialist Utopia
I'm happy that it worked out for you in the end. But yeah, it should not be this difficult.

I fully understand not just giving the account to anyone who claims to be the owner, but it looks like you provided sufficient identification to begin with.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,454
Mate tweeting EA help only is not going to help it. They only answer if you have problems buying UT coins. Try tagging in journalists or even developers that work there.
 

Xbox Live Mike

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
2,437
USA
This is a good lesson that everyone needs to remember. Have your contact info for accounts (Apple Id, Google Account, XBL/PSN/Steam/EGS and so on) that are up to date and have 2 factor authentication turned on if available. Yes it's a hassle but if you find value in the account you want to have it protected and also be able to login when you need to. There are people that want Steam/XBL/PSN accounts for the games associated with them so they will steal them if not protected.

edit: I also recommend using a email that you will have forever and not internet provider emails that you may lose when you move or cancel service. I see this come up as a problem every once and a while.
 

Ploid 6.0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,440
I'm locked out of my old Final Fantasy XI account because I don't remember my Phone Number from 2005, also the fake street address (doh', I was too paranoid about putting real addresses down, still am but I stick to trusted sites that I need to use real addresses).

Now I keep everything documented in duplicate safe areas. All my fake addresses, trash mail gmail accounts, and names.