Ignored support request, loss of valuables

#1 - Nov. 27, 2013, 10:04 a.m.

I have been hacked about 4 months ago and did get an account reroll but was hacked again for the second time a day ago.

My account was recently compromised yesterday and the email was changed. When I couldn’t log on yesterday I immediately sent a ticket to staff about my account which the staff did reply to. In less than 5 minutes after their second message (I replied to their first answer), I replied to their response, requesting them to disable my account before any serious damage was done but unfortunately did not receive a reply from them until 10 hours later where their action was that my email was changed back along with a password reset and I was able to log back on. Unfortunately due to the late response, the hacker was able to salvage all my character’s equipment and sold everything in my bank, sending the gold elsewhere.

This may seem like my fault at the moment however, my siblings do have their own account and saw the hacker log onto my account 3-4 hours before anet’s action on password reset and email change even though I requested the staff to disable my account which they did not 10 hours ago. During this time they saw my characters in Lion’s Arch stripping armour and weapons to salvage and sell in the trading post and running to and from the bank and tading post. I did check the trading post transactions and the activity was found to be 1 hour before the email restoration and password reset. I specifically requested for the staff to disable my account 5 minutes after the second reply to my ticket (#107837). However they did not disable my account and the hacker used my account during the 10 hour window before I received a response.

I did request for a second account restoration but was refused. I do know that the staff follow the one account, one restoration rule however, why should I be refused a second account reroll due to anet staff’s negligence (did not disable my account at the time of my request)? I feel it is extremely unfair as I did everything I could to save my account valuables.

Gaile Gray

#5 - Nov. 27, 2013, 3:38 p.m.

I want to thank forum members for providing some valuable information to packagedcrisps (love the name, btw!)

Ultimately, account security rests with the account holder. The fact that you were hacked again, even four months later, makes me wonder about the security of your entire computer.

Declining to do a second account restoration is a policy that rests, in part, with our not wanting to be put in the position of hack-reroll-hack-reroll, when that scenario can be abused (as mentioned above) by dishonest individuals and when that situation can do inestimable damage to the game economy, which affects all players.

Frankly, I’m thrilled we can offer account restorations at all, where I know other games don’t have the feature or added it long after we rolled it out (in Guild Wars). It’s a great service, but it must be used sparingly, so I hope you understand why we cannot accommodate your second request.

I’d also like to point out that the “delay” in responding to your request is not outside the norm for any game support team, and that things undoubtedly were going on in the background before you heard from an agent, such a checking access points, etc. Please know that a full and instantaneous response is not the norm with any support system.

More importantly, the chances are that your account was — as devastating as this is to contemplate — stripped in less than the five minutes it took you to respond to CS. Yes, account thieves are that efficient. It’s like the account was stripped hours before you realized it had been compromised.

We sympathize with your situation, and we have folks on staff who will try to help you enhance your personal security so that you are not hacked a third time. Please let the team know in your ticket if you’d like extra assistance in that regard.

I’m really sorry that happened to you and hope you’re back on your feet soon. I’ve found that other players and guildies are incredibly kind in aiding a player who has experienced this situation, and hope that is the case in your situation, too.