+11REP Phoning Microsoft about a compromised account.

[Describe]

My hotmail, messenger and XBOXLIVE have all been compromised. I'm not sure how it happened but after several virus scans I am almost certain that I am the victim of social engineering. I'm planning to phone Microsoft tomorrow and attempt to resolve the issue with the expectation that I will wait 72 hours while an 'investigation' takes place. I first noticed that my account had been taken from me when I started up FIFA12 but could not sign into my profile. I checked my messenger and my hotmail and the result was a wrong password message. I then asked a friend to check if my gamertag, Kamikaze Joey, was online and he clarified that the account was online playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. I'm a little bit gutted but I've obviously given too much away somewhere which has lead to this happening. If anything, I'll learn from my mistakes and hopefully my hotmail, msn and XBOXLIVE will be returned to me.

What is your experience in calling Microsoft about a compromised account?

[GoldenMerc]

I called about one of my accounts, They said it'd take 21 days i think, then they sent me a email saying your accounts fine. But never gave me the link to reset my password so im going to have to do it again >.>

[Describe]

I called about one of my accounts, They said it'd take 21 days i think, then they sent me a email saying your accounts fine. But never gave me the link to reset my password so im going to have to do it again >.>
Pathetic customer service. How would they know if your account was fine and what is their definition of fine? It's not like you phoned up for nothing.

[Recursion]

Pathetic customer service. How would they know if your account was fine and what is their definition of fine? It's not like you phoned up for nothing.

You do realise MS probably monitor accounts in question.

[Describe]

You do realise MS probably monitor accounts in question.
Yeah but it isn't fine if his account is not with him is it?

[peteyt]

With it being your xbox account it should be fine. The annoying problem with Hotmail related stuff is there is no phone support with it being a free service.

[Markeh]

What IS the Microsoft customer support line for the UK? I'm trying to get hold of a USB receiver for a wireless mouse and some rubber feet for my Wireless Keyboard 6000.

[Mark]

I'm not 100% sure but there was a thing about this on BBC watchdog and I think they gave you a freephone number

[Flisker]

With it being your xbox account it should be fine. The annoying problem with Hotmail related stuff is there is no phone support with it being a free service.
Xbox, Hotmail and such are all linked into one Windows Live ID so recovering one should recover all of them.

[Describe]

I phoned up today and spoke to Michael from customer support (0800 58711 0211) and after giving him purchase details, the credit card number associated with the account, history of purchases, postcode, contact number from the account and an e-mail address I was told that the account was locked pending an investigation. The investigation takes "..up to thirty days because we're really busy", this in my opinion is simply not good enough and I feel Microsoft should aim to reduce this number. Did I mention I got through on my first few rings? Yeah, very busy. I only hope I have provided enough information for the investigation to go successfully.

[Recursion]

I doubt it's because it's busy, it's probably a company policy to leave accounts locked for 30 days or something as a security measure.

Probably horrendously wrong but it's plausible.

[Describe]

I doubt it's because it's busy, it's probably a company policy to leave accounts locked for 30 days or something as a security measure.

Probably horrendously wrong but it's plausible.
I could imagine they get a good number of fake recovery calls which they then have to decide upon but I just think thirty days is ridiculous.

They should work it in the order of how many years the user has been associated with his/her LIVE account with those who have been using the service for the longest period jumping to the front of the que.

[GommeInc]

I could imagine they get a good number of fake recovery calls which they then have to decide upon but I just think thirty days is ridiculous.

They should work it in the order of how many years the user has been associated with his/her LIVE account with those who have been using the service for the longest period jumping to the front of the que.
Wouldn't that be unfair for new users? An equal service is better than one that favours customers who have been with a service for longer - but that only works if the service is perfect. 30 days is ridiculous, and there is no excuse for such a long wait. They need to update their service and security settings so you can easily get your account back. Clearly your case is a real one and not a hoax, and I'd hope they have the systems in place to check the activities of accounts and do so quickly. If you've paid for Xbox Live, demand a month free. You wouldn't get such pants service from Nintendo or Sony.

[Describe]

Wouldn't that be unfair for new users? An equal service is better than one that favours customers who have been with a service for longer - but that only works if the service is perfect. 30 days is ridiculous, and there is no excuse for such a long wait. They need to update their service and security settings so you can easily get your account back. Clearly your case is a real one and not a hoax, and I'd hope they have the systems in place to check the activities of accounts and do so quickly. If you've paid for Xbox Live, demand a month free. You wouldn't get such pants service from Nintendo or Sony.
It would be unfair but their service is far from perfect and I feel they need to do something to solve the whole thirty day issue. A month is a ridiculous time to wait for anyone, let alone a customer of three years who has an ongoing live subscription. I'll be seriously annoyed if I get an e-mail telling me they cannot help me.

Hotmail haven't emailed me about the two accounts that were taken neither.

[Describe]

UPDATE: Hotmail emailed me password reset links for both accounts and I was able to reset the password and remove the account '[email protected]' from my email. I'll now recover my gamertag.

:)

[GommeInc]

UPDATE: Hotmail emailed me password reset links for both accounts and I was able to reset the password and remove the account '[email protected]' from my email. I'll now recover my gamertag.

:)
So presumably it's all solved? :D Not long at all if so :)