PlayStation gamers need to be extra vigilant! Hacking a PlayStation Network account is actually not that difficult. Even if protected by a strong password and two-factor authentication, a profile’s security can still be compromised.
In an article recently published on Numerama, a journalist revealed how he saw his PSN account hacked twice in just a few minutes. Despite being protected by a passkey, the account fell very easily into the hands of a hacker. And this is largely due to Sony’s lax approach.
It was revealed that when someone contacts the brand’s customer service to recover a PSN account, only two pieces of information are requested. These are the PlayStation Network username and a transaction number from an old invoice. The year of the invoice is irrelevant… And that’s it!
For the purposes of an old article, a journalist at Numerama inadvertently included a screenshot of a PlayStation email containing an invoice number. Although it was quickly deleted, it was saved by an internet user. With this information, hackers can recover the account at will by calling Sony’s customer service, which does not seem to understand that two different people are trying to recover the same profile.
Others have testified that Sony’s teams may refuse to return the account because they are unable to identify its true owner. The Japanese manufacturer does not consider changes to the email address, username, or billing method as proof.
The moral of the story: be very careful with your invoices!
