Xbox, FIFA 13 virtual theft costs Toronto woman $300

A Toronto-area mother is footing the bill for some virtual soccer players her son didn’t actually get after his Xbox Live account was hacked.

According to CBC, Jennifer Stubbs’ son Dylan got her permission to purchase 7,000 Microsoft Points, the currency used to purchase in-game extras like players for his FIFA 13 game, which would normally cost around $100. But when Stubbs checked her credit card bill, there were charges for $409 from Microsoft, totaling about 25,000 points.

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When 11-year-old Dylan checked his FIFA 13 game, the players he had bought for the team had all vanished, apparently stolen by whoever made the additional charges to Stubbs’ credit card.

“We hear these screams coming from the living room and we go, ‘My god, what has happened?!’” Stubbs told CBC. “He was beside himself.

“He was so proud… and all of his friends play as well. So it’s a really important social thing, and it’s good for his soccer,” Stubbs said.

When Stubbs contacted Microsoft to report the issue, she was told that they couldn’t reimburse her the additional charges because she and her son had agreed to the end-user license agreement when Dylan had set up his account. While most users simply skim through these agreements (at best), they are generally legally binding and protect the company from paying when something like this happens. EA Sports, who makes FIFA 13, did replace all of Dylan’s lost points so he could buy back his players.

Microsoft did issue this statement in response to a request by media outlets for an interview:

“In this industry, security is an ongoing challenge and we are working every day to bring new forms of protection to Xbox Live.”

As upset as Stubbs and her son are, the sad truth is this is far from the first Xbox hacking incident – and isn’t the first time this has happened in FIFA 13, either. A quick search online shows that this problem has been a reoccurring one since the release of FIFA 11. Many of the account holders that have been affected by brazen hackers say they don’t even own any FIFA games, nor have they ever played one.

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EA has acknowledged the issue, and offers several links in their online forum explaining how users can keep themselves safe from having their account abused.

In general, though, there are a few simple things you can do to protect yourself if you are targeted by a hacker:

• Don’t save your payment information. While it’s more convenient to have your credit card info saved with your Xbox Live account, it also makes it easy for someone who hacks into your account to make unauthorized purchases.

• Don’t carry a balance on your Xbox Live account. Whenever possible, don’t leave any of the virtual currency in your online purse. Purchase only what you need at a time, otherwise you risk someone with access to your account spending the points that you spent.

• Change your password regularly. Like with all online accounts, keeping your password different from other accounts and making a new password every few months in the event your password does get discovered by someone.

• Don’t give out your information to unauthorized sources. Phishing emails asking for your Xbox Live account information are one of the easiest ways for a hacker to get into your account. Unless you request a password change through Microsoft or Xbox Live, you should keep your login information strictly to yourself.

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