It hasn’t been a good week for online gamers.
As reports are beginning to flood the internet about credit card theft which may be associated with the recent Sony PlayStation Network security breach, Microsoft has issued an alert to Xbox Live subscribers regarding phishing attempts directed at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players.
"About two or three days ago, my bank notified me that I had gotten my own [credit card information] stolen, the one I use for my PSN account, and with it a ticket was purchased through a German airline for nearly $600," one Ars Technica reader reported to the site. "They are still looking into the fraud charge meaning that right now I have a negative $500 in my account, with no good chance that I'll be getting that back any time soon."
"I also had an attempted fraudulent charge on my American Express card, about $8,000 going to some Japanese store. This all happened about when PSN started having trouble, so I'm betting this had something to do with it," another wrote. "My advice: if you have your credit card info on PSN, watch your accounts like a hawk. I'm buying pre-paid cards from now on; you know, if I decide to ever spend money on PSN again."
But despite the credit card fraud reports from PSN users around the world, Sony maintains that “all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken.”
Meanwhile, some Xbox Live subscribers have some fraud issues of their own to deal with.
On Thursday, Xbox support issued a Service Alert stating that “users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2.” Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling assured players via Twitter that a patch to fix the issue would be released soon.
While the Xbox Live issues are nowhere near the extent of the still-unfolding Sony PS3 PSN breach, the situation serves as a reminder to be cautious no matter which game console you favor.
