Has anyone ever recovered their stolen gil? Any advice?

[alocsin]

I'm usually good about not following chat links but this time I did and consequently lost 14 million gil, which was nearly all of my funds. This happened despite my having a software token, which I thought was supposed to protect me from such theft.

Customer service has been no help despite several back-and-forth messages. Their only solution is Game Data Recovery, which I do NOT want to do because of the problems written about it:

• The process takes several weeks at minimum.
• Any character and quest advances from the point of recovery are lost.
• The process is not guaranteed and seems to cause problems with unaffected items as well as previously completed quests.

Has anyone ever recovered their stolen gil? How did you go through it?

Do you have any ideas on how I can recover my stolen gil without going through Game Data Recovery? Is there anyone I can write to higher-up than the standard CSR for help?

I'm disappointed in this lack of customer service. In World of Warcraft, among other MMORPG's, lost or stolen items or money are usually restored immediately without fanfare and without going through data recovery. The CSRs there just look through a transaction log to see what happened and correct the problem. I don't know why FFXIV can't do the same thing.

Thanks in advance.

[KageTokage]

The data recovery thing is basically the only option you have. The XIV customer service sadly lacks the capacity to restore stolen items otherwise and is kinda laughably bad compared to the average MMO in general.

Also, the software token should have protected you unless you actually entered the password it gave you on a fraudulent website...which I'm assuming you did considering you mentioned going to a chat link.

[MariaArvana]

The data recovery thing is basically the only option you have. The XIV customer serve sadly lacks the capacity to restore stolen items otherwise.

Also, the software token *should* have protected you unless you actually entered the password it gave you on a fraudulent website...which I'm assuming you did considering you mentioned going to a chat link.

This. They have one-time item restore per account available, but thats for a single item. If you want to recover everything, the data rollback is basically your only option.

Although on the flip-side, hopefully you're now more aware of better internet security habits and never open a link unless its from someone you trust. Even then, to never punch in your log-in details anywhere besides going to the official site manually yourself first. 99.9% of proper websites will retain your log-in state for a set period of time; if you log in at the official place first and then the link wants to log you in again, it's almost guaranteed to be a phish

[alocsin]

This. They have one-time item restore per account available, but thats for a single item. If you want to recover everything, the data rollback is basically your only option.

The only thing I lost was gil, so I'm not sure why they don't allow the one-time item restore on that. Maybe they consider a million gil a million items.

[Vahlnir]

The only thing I lost was gil, so I'm not sure why they don't allow the one-time item restore on that. Maybe they consider a million gil a million items.

Yeah, their restoration systems leave a lot to be desired.

[Penthea]

To be completely fair, that is already in your chat officially the second you log into the game, though not in /tell form. They would have no reason to message you about it privately, which they never have with anyone regarding these things as far as I'm aware.

Yea system messages appear automatically and don't have a player name next to them because...the server isn't a player! Even by default system messages are a completely different colour to private tells.

The only thing I lost was gil, so I'm not sure why they don't allow the one-time item restore on that. Maybe they consider a million gil a million items.

That...really really sucks. Also thanks for answering my question about why you checked out the link.

[Vahlnir]

Yeah....

Your first mistake was probably following the chat link at all, followed by not making sure the link was legit. They don't do this sort of thing through in game chats officially, and as far as I'm aware they never have. Sounds like your series of unfortunate events was a worst case scenario, and that sucks. I'm of the opinion, however, that caution while browsing the internet is just common sense. Sounds like your only option is that data recovery thing if customer service is slow or unwilling to help. I realize this post might come off as somewhat abrasive, but...it kills me how many people fall for this crap.

[LaughingBanana]

I don't get why people would click on links on chat. You're not 60 years old grandpa/grandma, you should have more than adequate sense not to do that.

[Penthea]

OP I'm curious, after years of being careful about suspicious links, what was it about the one that gave you trouble that made you break your habit of ignoring them?

[Awha]

OP I'm curious, after years of being careful about suspicious links, what was it about the one that gave you trouble that made you break your habit of ignoring them?

That is a good question I am also curious. I also ignore them but if someone else that has largely ignored them and was convinced otherwise would like to know if they changed up anything to make it seem more realistic.