Some reports on the Xbox forums this week showed that some scammers are attempting to acquire information from Xbox Live users, such as credit card numbers and passwords to Live accounts. Microsoft has since confirmed the problem with Next-Gen and is actively pursuing the phishes.
In addition, Microsoft will reimburse any customer who lost their account during this ordeal. For example, if they lose Xbox Live Arcade games, Microsoft will replace the games at no extra charge. Lastly, Microsoft said that these scamming attempts are not due to a hardware or technology failure.
Be wary folks, since not every place is truly safe from scammers, not even Xbox Live. A copy of the email from Microsoft says:
"Microsoft has confirmed reports of certain individuals taking over subscribers’ Xbox LIVE accounts through fraudulent behavior.
We’ve taken action to help protect our subscribers’ accounts and are working with our call center staff to help reduce the likelihood of future incidents. This includes:
• Retraining all customer support representatives.
• Examining the policies and processes for account recovery.
• Continuing to monitor the situation closely to take appropriate action as necessary.
In addition to these steps, we continue to recommend that our customers always be careful with whom they share information while connected to Xbox LIVE.
We will reimburse any customer whose account has been compromised in this fashion. If they have lost content such as Xbox Live Arcade games, we will provide the customer with replacement content at no charge.
This was not a failure of software technology. We want to reassure our customers that there has been no security breach of the Xbox LIVE network or of Bungie.net.
Customers who have any concerns about their account should visit www.xbox.com/support, click on the link titled "Troubleshooting Access to your Xbox Live Account," and perform the steps outlined there."
