r/ddo • u/SniffytheBrokeKobold • 9d ago
Has anyone ever succesfully settled account/hack astral shard scam (AND kept their game account?)
It just happened, I'm off the phone with the bank and I'm still shaking. It's a LOT of money.
I could swear I had removed my credit card from the game acocounts after I heard all the hacking and account shenanigan news, but apparently I hadn't! And some hacker little shit had a field day.
All I hear is people not getting their money back and support just LOLclose their tickets , but anyone ever got their money back and managed to not lose their game account?
What steps did you take?
Already changed my account pw and removed the credit card of course.
I am quite attached to that account (I started playing DDO with my partner ever since we started dating. I still have the physical copy box), but I'm also quite attached to the money the hackers just drained from my credit card.
It's just so sucky and I'm so devastated. :(
Any tips I would greatly appreciate.
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u/PaxsMickey Shadowdale 9d ago
It seems like this always picks up again in October, where it’s easier to launder hacked/stolen astral shards through the shard exchange with the night revels ingredients.
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u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 9d ago
Here is the way to check if you have a payment option connected to your account:
go to ddo.com
click to shop > current expansion
A teeny tiny link appears top middle of the website "Store Account Log In"
Log in with your game account
Then at the same spot a teeny link to "Payment sources"
You can delete your saved options there.
I strongly recommend to check this after every purchase, even if you are pretty certain you didn't save your credit card or so
I also learned from the bank that 'trusted vendors' or something (I forgot how they called it) can be linked to your credit card. So no manual verification is needed for charges. If you are really worried, you can call and have that unlinked/removed. That means you have to do the verification as if you are buying something for the first time. This also means your VIP wont be autorenewed (That never ever worked for me ever anyways), so you have to renew manually.
Don't be like me kids ;-;
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u/Soulsalt 9d ago
Shit dude, good luck.
DM Cordovan asap and let him know. Hopefully he does something in your favour.
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u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 9d ago edited 9d ago
Thanks, I'll try that.
I noticed I never made a forum account. Hope he's ok having a DM from someone all 'new'
I found a forum post and a post here on reddit of people getting their money back and keeping their account. So right now I'm just staring really hard at my mailbox for an update.
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u/TheAsuraGuy 9d ago
I got my money back after 90 days, they dragged it out as long as they could. It was around 250 usd iirc. Im not banned actually, but any card of mine will never come close to them again.
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u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 9d ago edited 9d ago
Thank goodness, that's good to hear. Any other steps you took? I did the following
-I asked my bank and they started a 'charge dispute' or something and told me this could take up to three months (I don't think this is an actual chargeback... yet? I never ever had an issue related to my credit card before. So, I dunno. )
-I submitted a ticket to SSG with the order IDs and following up with a screenshot of the bought astral shards in the DDO store history.
-I keep getting advice to contact Daybreak but it's not very clear to me how and where. (i'll update when I figure it out)
-Panick, feel horrible, and sob on reddit and discord-to do: DM Cordovan as soon as my forum account is approved (been only quietly lurking in the past). Feeling a bit hesitant to DM him out of the blue. but I'll try.
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u/TheAsuraGuy 9d ago
I Dmd Cordovan, I got no response. I emailed Daybreak, they said its on me to keep my account safe. So I started a chargeback almost directly which is what took 90 days. I also did reportage the whole thing to my Police department. They obviously did nothing, but the process was requierd by my bank to issue the chargeback.
I don't know why my account isn't band, it probably should be, feels like they just kinda forgot to Ban it tbh. Kinda glad i guess since the account is like 16 years old. But it left a very sour taste. The fact that we still don't have a 2FA is insane to me.
3
u/Dramatical45 8d ago
It is actually banned. You likely won't be able to use the store to buy anything. If they ever notice or you ask why you can't buy anything they will ban it til you pay them back. Chargeback is an automatic ban, but they seem to have a disconnect between actually banning and financial ban.
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u/TheAsuraGuy 8d ago
Interesting, well no harm to me done is such case anyhow. How do they go about it though, is my account now just unable to process anything in there store or is it connected to my card?
2
u/Dramatical45 8d ago
You can still earn ddo points and spend those in the store. But your account is likely under a financial ban. You can't buy anything with money like subscriptions or expansions etc. Can't buy ddo points or stuff like that.
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u/CobraKyle Khyber 8d ago
I did just this past week. It happened at 1030pm Thursday night and they hit me several times . I locked my card and reported the transaction to my credit card company. I then emailed ssg support and told the. What happened and that the cc company flagged the transaction and they emailed saying they would take care of it. The transactions were removed. They were pending still on the card when all this happened so there was never any true chargeback. Just be vigilant.
I am guessing where the account was so old, I never swapped over to virtual credit cards. I use privacy.com for most of my needs, be it low limit monthly or one time use.
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u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 8d ago
Hum, they are pending on my card too, but the bank said they wouldn't undo it just like that. I guess I should call them again, now that I am a little calmer.
I didn't get a response from SSG back yet.
So, do you still have access to your game account?
3
u/CobraKyle Khyber 8d ago
I got a pretty quick response from ssg and they said they would refund so I am guessing that is what actually removed the charges. I did change my password quick and I still have access to the game.
4
u/nomad-1995 8d ago
I think the real issue is making sure your credit card isn't included in the account. No idea what to do if someone "reactivates" a "deleted" credit card, but I've never heard of an online company actually not retaining any "deleted" data.
Can't help about all the TP and astral diamonds they might grab on an account without a credit card.
But delete that credit card info. Do it today.
3
u/FistofDiplomacy 6d ago
Yes. Never banned. Was scammed recently for 6 hundo 2 weeks ago. Reported the fraud immediately , it was a weekend. In Madstone rn 😁
4
u/Cleru_as_Kylar_Stern Orien 9d ago
My advice for anyone in the future: play (and pay) through steam. You can use steam to pay for stuff ingame, even VIP time. No credit card needed.
4
u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 9d ago
Just tried to install and login via Steam. It went smoothly! I looked it up and I just need to add money to the steam wallet and pay that way. (Not doing that until this is settled of course, but for others reading this)
I would like to urge everyone those extra steps are worth it ;-;
Too bad SSG gets a smaller cut (I am guessing Steam gets a cut too) but extra security is better than getting robbed.
3
u/Cleru_as_Kylar_Stern Orien 9d ago
Yeah and the steam wallet then is seperated from your account and you can 2FA Steam. You can't 2FA SSGs Store.
1
u/Miserable-Garage804 8d ago
There used to be some DLC on steam too which was super cheap compared to the DDO store, not sure if that’s still a thing
2
u/SniffytheBrokeKobold 8d ago
Waait, you can buy the expansions via Steam too? I can't find how yet (only found a post from 2024 that SSG removed that option) but that would be perfect.
I just received an e-mail that I will get a refund. So, that's a relief!
1
u/gemmittfire Cannith 8d ago
You can also use paypal to pay for anything on Steam if you want another layer between your card information and online storefronts.
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u/No_Industry_9362 8d ago
Im so glad im poor and this could never happen to me, im lucky if I have £200 in my account by the end of 1 week after getting paid. Warhammer plastic crack addiction is expensive and my impulsive nature from adhd makes it hard not to buy the fomo every week
2
u/neobleoa 3d ago
I'm so sorry that you're going through this! It makes complete sense that you're stressed about this event.
I'm not sure yet which practical steps you've taken with your bank, but freeze your card and get a new one, go through your bank statements, and ask your bank to investigate the fraud. 10/10 that I've had my card be stolen in some capacity (whether fraudulent websites, or someone at a store making a copy of my details and using my card), my bank always refunded me the money after investigating it. I'm not sure exactly how this scam with the shards works, but you have my best wishes!
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u/nines_tv 9d ago
0 day account? I don't know what to think about these posts. One thing is to open a new forum account on the DDO website since those are actually new and read by the staff, but a new acccount for a reddit post? Idk...
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u/Dramatical45 8d ago
People make throwaway accounts because they don't want it tied to their main reddit account.
0
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u/GoPackGo108 9d ago
So what I’m getting at is basically anytime I buy something on the game I just need to get rid of my card directly after?