Please help, someone is on my account.

Earlier this evening, after logging off to go play some DotA 2 with some friends, one of my buddies hops down in our Teamspeak and lets me know that my character - Maulthia Karadoc - is currently in New Gradinia spamming gold selling services for some third-world RMT site. After reading Reddit for the last week, and seeing firsthand how terrible customer service has been thus far into my FFXIV experience, I don't know what to do. I can't login to my account because someone is already logged in (worst feature I've ever seen by the way). They've logged off twice to my knowledge, even after I had changed the password twice and manged to get back on. I changed the password from two separate computers (one of which is a brand new installation of win7) and they're still able to login to my account, so I'm 100% sure it is not on my end. Routine virus scan came up with absolutely nothing from both AVG and Windows Security Essentials.

How do I fix this? IRONICALLY the only way I've read to contact a GM was in-game, which is passing idiotic considering you won't allow people to log back in when the gold spammers on their account.

one time password perhaps?

I have a feeling they are getting through without a password. I saw this happen in Rift. Just a guess, but who knows. :(

Well, one of my friends let me know as soon as whoever had it logged out, and I've retaken my account. So what do I do, stay logged in permanently to prevent this? I'm sure a lot of people reported my character for spamming so I'll likely get banned. How do I deal with all of this?

If you have a smartphone, get the SE Token App and apply it to your account. Until then, if you don't want to stay logged in permanently you can always deactivate the account after you log off, and then reactivate when you want to log back on. I would also change the password to your email account that you use for FFXIV, and check to make sure that email account is still registered in the mog station as the primary.

Just for peace of mind I would try scanning your PC with malwarebytes. It's a free download which can find stuff that both AVG and Windows Security Essentials won't show.

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Originally Posted by Maulth

I I changed the password from two separate computers (one of which is a brand new installation of win7) and they're still able to login

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:confused:

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Originally Posted by Gonzothegreat198

If you have a smartphone, get the SE Token App and apply it to your account. Until then, if you don't want to stay logged in permanently you can always deactivate the account after you log off, and then reactivate when you want to log back on. I would also change the password to your email account that you use for FFXIV, and check to make sure that email account is still registered in the mog station as the primary.

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How does one deactivate their account?

and by mentioning that I was using two seperate computers, I was saying that I know it's not a keylogger. The other computer first connected to the internet to download FFXIV, and antivirus. Meaning I hadn't even downloaded anything else. After I changed the password on that computer, they were still able to log off and then back onto my account.

Actually, I just downloaded an Anroid emu for PC. Since I haven't had a smartphone for a bout a year now (relatives are annoying, who wants to talk to them anyway?) I'll have to see if I can get it working this way with the authenticator.

It's possible they kept the session open so they didn't need to relog.
Change also your email account password from a safe PC and attach a token.

Well, I've attached an authenticator to my account via an emulator. So now I know I have that part covered. Just crossing my fingers that me getting hacked earlier doesn't result in a ban. :(

Where did you download the authenticator from? I have a kindle fire and I want to download the APK so I can manually install it on my kindle. I cant find the APK anywhere.

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Originally Posted by Tigron321

Where did you download the authenticator from? I have a kindle fire and I want to download the APK so I can manually install it on my kindle. I cant find the APK anywhere.

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I think your only option is to root your kindle and follow one of the tutorial you find around to install the google store.

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Originally Posted by ZohnoReecho

I think your only option is to root your kindle and follow one of the tutorial you find around to install the google store.

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Another option would be find someone with a Android device with google play store installed all ready. You could then have them use airdroid and pull the authenticator APK right from the device. Course they will have to have the authenticator installed on the device first to do it.

But doing it this way is very risky and I don't know if SE would allow us to post the APK file on here anyways.

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Originally Posted by Haystack

Another option would be find someone with a Android device with google play store installed all ready. You could then have them use airdroid and pull the authenticator APK right from the device. Course they will have to have the authenticator installed on the device first to do it.

But doing it this way is very risky and I don't know if SE would allow us to post the APK file on here anyways.

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I dont know why though. Its a free application, and I really do not want to spend 10 bucks on an authenticator. It seems like a waste to me. Besides, My account is already suspended thanks to damn goldspammers already, so.

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Originally Posted by Haystack

Another option would be find someone with a Android device with google play store installed all ready. You could then have them use airdroid and pull the authenticator APK right from the device. Course they will have to have the authenticator installed on the device first to do it.

But doing it this way is very risky and I don't know if SE would allow us to post the APK file on here anyways.

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I believe each d/l produces a randomly generated unique ID for the authenticator itself. At this time, only iOS and Android is supported. I view the Kindle as a bastardized forked Android, so it's not really supported by SE.

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Originally Posted by Discordia

I believe each d/l produces a randomly generated unique ID for the authenticator itself.

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The download/apk is the same for everyone (possibly there's different versions for different resolutions, but given the basicness of the app, I doubt it). It's when you run and set it up that it connects to your SE account and creates the unique seed (either the server gives it a unique seed or it's some formula based on your IMEI your Android Device ID or a combination of them all). I know that if I manually extract the apk and data files with Titanium Backup and copy them across to another device it resets the data so it is at least checking the IMEI even if it it's not using it in the seed generation (That method would normally work for other applications).

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Originally Posted by Discordia

I view the Kindle as a bastardized forked Android, so it's not really supported by SE.

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It is still running a version of Android though, just with a different front end. If you can get hold of the APK then you should be able to manually install it. Either using an APK installer app on the device itself or using the Android Developer tools (specially ADB) to install it from a connected computer.

Edit: You won't even need to root the Kindle to install the APK if you can get it, assuming in the system settings/apps you can enable installing of 3rd party apps.

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Originally Posted by worldofneil

The download/apk is the same for everyone (possibly there's different versions for different resolutions, but given the basicness of the app, I doubt it). It's when you run and set it up that it connects to your SE account and creates the unique seed (either the server gives it a unique seed or it's some formula based on your IMEI your Android Device ID or a combination of them all). I know that if I manually extract the apk and data files with Titanium Backup and copy them across to another device it resets the data so it is at least checking the IMEI even if it it's not using it in the seed generation (That method would normally work for other applications).



It is still running a version of Android though, just with a different front end. If you can get hold of the APK then you should be able to manually install it. Either using an APK installer app on the device itself or using the Android Developer tools (specially ADB) to install it from a connected computer.

Edit: You won't even need to root the Kindle to install the APK if you can get it, assuming in the system settings/apps you can enable installing of 3rd party apps.

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Exactly Neil. I have installed plenty of other apps with just the apk's on my kindle alone, but I can't seem to find the apk of the SE thing anywhere.

change your password, and run a malware check on your PC - just in case.

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Originally Posted by Discordia

I believe each d/l produces a randomly generated unique ID for the authenticator itself. At this time, only iOS and Android is supported. I view the Kindle as a bastardized forked Android, so it's not really supported by SE.

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The application is a software implementation of the security Token. These function almost exactly like RAS SecureID Access tokens, and the hardware tokens look almost exactly like those RSA SecureID devices. I would not be surprised to learn that the hardware tokens are OEM'd by RSA, and the software is probably authored by them as well.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

change your password, and run a malware check on your PC - just in case.

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I did. Changed my password yesterday, woke up and I'm suspended today, so. Didnt work. Can't wait to deal with this wonderful SE support I'm hearing so much about.

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Originally Posted by Tigron321

I did. Changed my password yesterday, woke up and I'm suspended today, so. Didnt work. Can't wait to deal with this wonderful SE support I'm hearing so much about.

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The suspension was probably already in the works since your account had been hijacked.

You'll need to contact SE customer support and I am afraid to say you'll have to be patient because it takes time to handle each case. They may have a backlog of cases that they have to deal with, and so it could take a day or two to get to you.

If you consider how many accounts have been terminated (someone claimed 6000 in another thread), and how many suspended, and figure an hour per account for investigation and action (including time spend with customers trying to reactivate their now suspended account as well as all the time to verify that some action is merited - in your case your account had probably been reported for spamming). So at minimum that would be about 6,000 hours of work. Let's assume that your SE support person handling these matters works a 50 hour week, there have been approximately 5 weeks of active service of the game, so each support person has about 250 hours of effective working time available. even if you look only at the 6000 banned accounts, that would require a team of 24 specialists - assuming an hour per account.

Knock it down to 30 minutes per account, but include all the bans and suspensions, you may be talking 10,000 affected accounts (or more). even at 30 minutes per account (average)n that's at least 20 full time people working on nothing else.

I'm not trying to defend or "white knight" SE here, but reality is reality. All of us would hope that a human looks into bans and suspensions to make sure that mistakes are corrected - such as in your case. But the reality is that to take the appropriate care, you have to have people doing it, and as cases mount up, a backlog may form, which takes time to clear.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

The suspension was probably already in the works since your account had been hijacked.

You'll need to contact SE customer support and I am afraid to say you'll have to be patient because it takes time to handle each case. They may have a backlog of cases that they have to deal with, and so it could take a day or two to get to you.

If you consider how many accounts have been terminated (someone claimed 6000 in another thread), and how many suspended, and figure an hour per account for investigation and action (including time spend with customers trying to reactivate their now suspended account as well as all the time to verify that some action is merited - in your case your account had probably been reported for spamming). So at minimum that would be about 6,000 hours of work. Let's assume that your SE support person handling these matters works a 50 hour week, there have been approximately 5 weeks of active service of the game, so each support person has about 250 hours of effective working time available. even if you look only at the 6000 banned accounts, that would require a team of 24 specialists - assuming an hour per account.

Knock it down to 30 minutes per account, but include all the bans and suspensions, you may be talking 10,000 affected accounts (or more). even at 30 minutes per account (average)n that's at least 20 full time people working on nothing else.

I'm not trying to defend or "white knight" SE here, but reality is reality. All of us would hope that a human looks into bans and suspensions to make sure that mistakes are corrected - such as in your case. But the reality is that to take the appropriate care, you have to have people doing it, and as cases mount up, a backlog may form, which takes time to clear.

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Naw, I know it takes time, I've got no problems with that. I've just red people's horror stories about SE's customer service is all. Met some of it first had as well, but what can you do.

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Originally Posted by Tigron321

Naw, I know it takes time, I've got no problems with that. I've just red people's horror stories about SE's customer service is all. Met some of it first had as well, but what can you do.

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I asked in another thread if there was anything someone in your situation could do to force the attacker out, and the only suggestion offered was to deactivate your account through Mog Station. I'm not sure how that would go with SE and reactivation once they figure out you are legit. But the thought is that if the account is deactivated it should force your account off the service within a couple of hours. But, of course no one has any experience with that as a method, it's not like its something you'd choose to do for the heck of it...

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

I asked in another thread if there was anything someone in your situation could do to force the attacker out, and the only suggestion offered was to deactivate your account through Mog Station. I'm not sure how that would go with SE and reactivation once they figure out you are legit. But the thought is that if the account is deactivated it should force your account off the service within a couple of hours. But, of course no one has any experience with that as a method, it's not like its something you'd choose to do for the heck of it...

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Doesn't really matter if I chose it or not. I reported it a while back, but now SE has closed my account, and terminated my subscription. Not to mention I spent about 6 hours on chat help trying to get an agent to help me out, Only to have the thing say none are available, try again later. No wonder people have such horrible stories about SE's Customer service.

Someone pointed out a major security breach on here the other day that involved using an old session ID to log in to an account and completely bypass the entire authentication system. That might be what is happening to you.

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Originally Posted by MithrasInvictus

Someone pointed out a major security breach on here the other day that involved using an old session ID to log in to an account and completely bypass the entire authentication system. That might be what is happening to you.

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Perhaps, but it doesn't much matter anymore. I'm banned and account terminated. And SE wont get back to me on the matter via email, I dont care to spend who knows how much on phone bills waiting to talk to someone, and their live chat is a fricken joke, so. Im SoL I guess.

Sorry to hear that, Tigron... :/