Overlooked account security flaw/Ban support

[Swampski]

Is there a more recent security flaw somewhere?

I haven't played S9 or 10 at all but have played since S1 fairly frequent. I took a break after S8 bc of all the server issues then lol. I just get on randomly to collect my prime skins and see what's new while I wait for better servers.
I got an email this morning about being banned at almost 4 am and knew something wasn't right since I haven't played a game in a long time. I checked my KD for this season and obviously someone hacked my account and is using hacks. Okay. It happens (*coughs* a lot in Apex judging from what I've seen). But the real issue lies where, judging by all the stuff I'm reading about the poor support with these very exact situations, I can pretty much kiss all the money and time I did spend on Apex goodbye, years of it, and it seems like there's a lot of us this is happening to with no resolution. How is this okay for those who honestly did nothing wrong? Is there no IP logging for proof? Is there nothing?

TLDR: My account was hacked and permabanned. In joining this forum and seeing if this was happening to others, I noticed an influx in other people reporting the same thing within the last week especially. Sure. It may be normal in other games with how many people are being hacked and then banned for hacks, but the lack of resolution and permabanned accounts to hacking cheaters can't be... can it?

[EA_Mako · Accepted solution]

Glad to hear you were able to get this cleared up @Swampski!

While I can't go into much detail for obvious reasons, suffice it to say account security is of the utmost importance to us and we're constantly evaluating our processes to be sure these sorts of situations don't go unchecked.

We're very much aware of various tactics used by certain parties to try and gain access whether or not they're successful with their attempts, and have pretty consistent updates to address those concerns internally, both on an individual level and across the board. 

I absolutely appreciate the thoughts and feedback on this, thanks for writing this up.

[EA_Mako]

Hey @Swampski,

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to appeal this with our Terms of Service team so they can take another look through the account and the access to the account. I'm afraid that's not something we're able to do in any capacity on the forums. 

Whether or not someone else may have gained access is taken into consideration, but in the meantime I would also be sure you've gone through these security steps to make sure the account and your computer are secure.

[Swampski]

@EA_MakoI appreciate your reply! I ended up attaching screenshots of my EA data and was able to quickly get the matter resolved.

I'm really impressed with the how fast I received help. But this thread wasn't just for me and my situation. I just wanted to put it out there in my own words that there's an obvious security flaw somewhere happening in large numbers. It doesn't seem okay, especially for the stature Apex has. And I know I'm probably not stating anything you don't already know yourself as a community manager 'round these parts, but I'd still like to share my thoughts post this experience.

In scouring forums here, reddit, and steam, there's a crazy amount of compromised account threads. It's kind of insane considering 1. the hackers are using our real money we put on the account and 2. they now have access to other personal information. 3. they continue to get into accounts despite all security measures being taken.
Lots of people state they have 2FA mobile and email setup and the hacker is just voice phishing customer service over and over or opening chats/claims with cs, one person I read up to six times already, to regain access to their accounts. There are tons of threads with similar stories, all with bizarre and long back and forth fights with their hacker and cs despite shielding their accounts and taking every security measure available. I don't think my hacker was too bright thankfully, because they didn't bother to change my email and really lock me out (yet). But I've also read threads of people who got their account back after being hacked and banned, only to have it happen shortly after again despite taking all security measures and even telling cs to make a note to call them for any account changes, which gets overlooked. It sounds unheard of to me on the scale it is happening.

There is nothing we can actually do if we are using all 2fa options, using pw vault programs, shielding the account, etc. when at the end of the day, the hacker can talk with some pushover customer service rep and have everything easily changed with security questions that anyone who gained access to the account in the first place already knows (which is a really stupid setup in the first place). That issue could be fixed with a simple PIN or question the user has to answer that isn't saved on Origin anywhere, like my bank does when I call them as well as my cell service, etc. Idk. The hacking in general, with accounts and in game, feels like a big infestation that isn't getting better.

Another note I feel like is worth throwing out there, I can't be sure but it almost seemed like a decent number of hacked accounts are those that haven't been logged in for several days +

[EA_Mako · Accepted solution]

Glad to hear you were able to get this cleared up @Swampski!

While I can't go into much detail for obvious reasons, suffice it to say account security is of the utmost importance to us and we're constantly evaluating our processes to be sure these sorts of situations don't go unchecked.

We're very much aware of various tactics used by certain parties to try and gain access whether or not they're successful with their attempts, and have pretty consistent updates to address those concerns internally, both on an individual level and across the board. 

I absolutely appreciate the thoughts and feedback on this, thanks for writing this up.

[Swampski]

@EA_Mako I really appreciate you taking the time to read what I had to say. That and the assurance does go a long way. I hope Apex continues to make improvements, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!