Request for Assistance – Character Transferred Off Bahamut After Account Compromise

[Insamity]

Hello,

I’m writing in the hope that someone from the support or community team can review my case properly, as I’ve been unable to get any meaningful resolution through normal channels.

I’ve been a Final Fantasy XI player for over 15 years and have been consistently loyal and supportive of the game. Unfortunately, my account was recently compromised, and when I regained access, I discovered that my main character, had been moved from Bahamut to another server.

• Support has stated there were “no signs of compromise,” but several details strongly suggest otherwise:
  
• I live in the United Kingdom, yet there were logins from the United States around the time my password was changed.
  
• All of my other characters and friends are still on Bahamut, so I had no reason to move away from them.
  
• The new server population is very low, and it makes no sense that I would voluntarily transfer there.
  
• I had to recover my account through the official support process, indicating that unauthorised access had occurred.
  
• I have offered to pay the world transfer fee just to return to Bahamut, but the request was still denied.

I fully understand that Bahamut is currently closed to new character creation and world transfers due to congestion, but this situation is different; it’s not a voluntary transfer request, it’s the result of account compromise.

I have now filed a GDPR Article 15 request with Square Enix’s Data Protection Officer to obtain all login IP addresses, password change records, and internal investigation notes related to my account. I hope this data will clarify what happened and support my request to have the character returned to Bahamut.

I’m not asking for lost items or compensation; I simply want to be able to play with my friends again on the server I’ve called home for years.

If any member of the community team can forward this to the appropriate department or advise on possible next steps, I would be very grateful. I am just not very happy with the result given to me by the people who did my ticket (ticket: t29127516:f2a4). I feel unheard, disheartened and very upset that SE will not help me recover my account properly or simply move my character back to Bahumat

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Kind regards,

[Alhanelem]

They won't help with account related issues on the forums. You will need to contact them, ideally by phone (google it, they don't post it but they have a support number) for this kind of issue, which will have a better chance of results than the website support in this case. But I'm not even sure if they actually have the ability to manually transfer characters.

You really should be using a security token if you haven't been. It is much, much more difficult for your account to become compromised with 2 factor authentication. Also make sure you're not visiting any sus websites or going to any links/URls messaged to you within the game. If you didn't take such measures I'm not sure they can be held responsible and compensate you (i.e. by giving you a free transfer) if you didn't take available security measures to protect your account.

The new server population is very low, and it makes no sense that I would voluntarily transfer there.

(DISCLAIMER: I know you didn't choose this so please don't take this the wrong way but it needs to be said) The entire reason these servers are closed are to encourage people to transfer to the lower pop servers. It would help the entire community if you got your friends to transfer instead. It makes complete sense that people would voluntarily transfer there, as you can still fully enjoy the game on a lower-pop server, and by being there, you're increasing the pop of that server. There are many reasons why someone would voluntairly transfer, even if they don't necessairly apply to you personally, so to say it doesn't make sense is not true:
1) easier to find camps for grinding
2) less wait times for content
3) fewer bots interfering with you being able to do content (esp. salvage for example, which is swarmed by bots on Asura to the point regular players have a hard time getting in)
4) Easier to get NMs with special spawn conditions / long timers
5) less lag
6) some people just like a quieter space

I'm only telling you this because of your statement "it doesnt make sense that I would voluntarily do this." There are many reasons to voluntarily do it. The most populated server isn't automatically the best one. I'm personally very thankful my server has seen a modest increase in activitry as a result of the server closures, so it is having the intended effect. Every person that actually does transfer increases the pop of another server and the whole goal of the closures is to achieve better population balance, so that everyone is able to enjoy the game equally well. Those servers will remain closed until people transfer off or populations increase elsewhere.

It's unfortunate of course, that you got caught up in this against your will, but hopefully this reinforces the need to use account security. If you haven't already, use your cell phone to register a software token (free) or consider buying the standalone physical security token, which Square Enix actually still sells. And please please also make sure you've changed your password and that you aren't using the same password you use for anything else if you value your account / characters.

[Dragoy]

But I'm not even sure if they actually have the ability to manually transfer characters.

I've been stuck before, and a Gamemaster was able to help me out with it, so I'd say yes, they most likely can do something about it if they want to.

or consider buying the standalone physical security token, which Square Enix actually still sells

I thought they didn't, since ages past, but it does seem like they still do... North America onri.

Latest "ad" I could quick-like find from the XIV side, is from 2019, the Shadowbringers themed one, but that is not listed any longer either.

Some other related posts do not link to the physical token at all, but there is at least one from the year 2025 as well, which does link to it on the European side... only it's to the NA store, and I believe their ships only sail within NA (probably a copy-paste mishap that they link to it at all).

Unsure if the NA one would even work with an EU account (I know FFXI registration codes for example do not work both ways).

I, for one, would prefer the physical token if I could get one (mine finally dieded after 11 or so years), and I don't have a device that runs any of those supported applications... so the only real option for me is an unsupported application/method of running such applications (luckily that /is/ possible at all, even though everything tries to chain everyone into the big companies and "smart phones"... but I do digress!).

Any blue, I wish best of luck with this issue at hand, and everything else going forward!

[Alhanelem]

I've been stuck before, and a Gamemaster was able to help me out with it, so I'd say yes, they most likely can do something about it if they want to.

Being stuck != server transfer. I have never heard of them manually transferring anyone from one server to another. I suppose they could apply a discount (100%) to your account for the next one you use yourself. But until I hear of someone having this done for them, I'm going to assume they can't/don't do it.

I thought they didn't, since ages past, but it does seem like they still do... North America onri.

The page on the SQEX account page which explains security tokens provides a link both to a software authenticator tool and the product page on the Square Enix Store for the key ring security token :

https://sqex.to/451zR

The physical token does carry the advantage that there's no way of any external software potentially interacting with it, so it is technically the highest security option available. This is probably why they still offer it in the face of having a free alternative.

(mine finally dieded after 11 or so years)

Mine only just died recently as well. I also had the one that came with the FFXIV 1.0 collectors edition, but this wasn't that long after the tokens were first offered, so this one only died a few months later. But they clearly last way way longer than the 2-3 years that was originally promised lol.

[Alhanelem]

I actually have to take back something I said earlier. It turns out SE discontinued phone support at the end of September. So that's no longer an option for "high quality support."

(well their logic in using that phrase is phone calls tie up support agents for longer since you can't be on a phone call with more than one person at a time, whereas you can chat with multiple users at the same time.... but while it may be more efficient it certainly doesn't help quality...)

[Dragoy]

Being stuck != server transfer.

Sorry, I suppose the context wasn't clear.

I meant I had bought server transfer for a character, and went through the motions, but it was still "stuck" on the origin server, and that is when I contacted a GM about it and they fixed it.

(How exactly, I don't know of course. Perhaps they called a friend.)

The page on the SQEX account page which explains security tokens provides a link both to a software authenticator tool and the product page on the Square Enix Store for the key ring security token :

https://sqex.to/451zR

Right, that is the North American store. The European version (https://eu.store.square-enix-games.com/se-security-token) does not list the item at all, and as far as I am aware, the NA store only ships within NA (and they might not work for an EU account anyblue).