Tag Archives: theft

Microsoft has responded to yesterday’s report which claimed the rash of compromised Xbox Live accounts lately were due to “brute force” unauthorized access through legitimate channels. In a statement provided to IGN, the firm said there wasn’t any “loophole” allowing the invasions, as the method of attack is “an industry-wide issue.” Microsoft also noted, once again, many accounts are compromised due to malware and phishing scams used to glean user passwords. “Online fraud and identity theft are industry-wide problems, and as such people using any online services should set strong passwords, not share those passwords across multiple services and refrain from sharing any personal details that could leave them vulnerable,” read the statement. “As always, we highly recommend our members follow the Xbox Live Account Security guidance provided [here] to protect your account.”

The firm contends there hasn’t been a security breach within the XBL service.

More reports of Xbox Live accounts being illegally accessed have come to light this week, with the latest claim coming from a user who discovered her account had been sold through a site operating out of China to a Polish Xbox Live user.

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While Atomic was showing Breach at PAX East over the weekend, an attendee at the booth attempted to steal the game’s code.

After stealing about 14Mb of the game’s code, he ran off upon discovery, and was luckily apprehended a bit later.

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An EVE Online player, going by the name of Curzon Dax, apparently earned 374 billion ISK game currency from in-game investors and then ran off with the funds.

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An ex-US Postal Service worker in Pennsylvania has admitted in federal court to five-fingering 2,200 rental games bound for customers of GameFly.

Reginald Johnson, 34, of Germantown, faces 12 to 18 months in prison with sentencing set for January 13.

The mail-processing clerk who loaded and unloaded tractor-trailers of mail stole approximately $86,000, worth of games between April and September 2008.

After being under surveillance, the feds showed up to get him at work, only for him to flee the scene in his vehicle, and he was only apprehended after wrecking his SUV and running on foot for a bit. During this time he dropped a duffel bag, which was found to be packed with 81 GameFly titles.

Further search of the vehicle found another bag containing 79 mailers from the game rental service.

Apparently, Johnson had been trading the games to GameStop and inside his vehicle the feds found receipts from the store along with five Nintendo Wii Sports, three Wii Fits, a Playstation console, and game controllers.

More over on Philly.com.

Entertainment retailers are expected to start using a new radio-activated lock on games, DVDs and other disc-based merchandise by Q4 2010 to help curb the three-figured discount some patrons give themselves.

The device is expected to save the retail industry $6 billion annually, according to a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association titled “Project Lazarus: Study of Benefit Denial.”

Sean Bersell, EMA’s VP of public affairs, told Gamespot that this has nothing to do with DRM or anything like it. Instead, the new device makes the disc unusable until it is unlocked by the cashier at the register.

“This is not about DRM or other coding of the discs,” he said. “The technology to which we are referring would be a physical lock that is opened via radio frequency at the point of sale. (Think of a key card that unlocks a door.) And this is not about fighting piracy (illegal reproductions), but rather fighting shrink (theft of legitimate goods).

“The purpose is to make it easier for the consumer to purchase the product and enabling additional retail channels that have significant shrink issues to carry the product.”

Publishers are a bit wary of the technology at the moment, but the EMA says that training store clerks to use it and manage stock better is where it’s at.

More through the link.

According to this Arstechnica piece, at least three UPS delivery men in the US have been caught stealing pre-launch copies of GTA IV and subsequently sacked.

“When we have a [big name release], we communicate it to operations and security teams. We have security in place at the facilities, and we make sure they understand to keep an eye out for things to exit the building,” said a UPS boss character.

“We had tips from people inside, and some of them were discovered at intermediate hubs… it’s easy to spot: flaps torn, some boxes are re-taped… They’re not selling them, these people are stealing one copy.”

See? GTA really does cause crime.