Source
r/pathofexile•
Elelish

How does creating a throwaway account help Support verify me?

Question

Approaching 5. week of not having Access to my account after getting hacked. Support (9 days since the last email from them) just asked me to create a throwaway account with a throwaway email and create a character and tell them the Name of the account.

Could someone help me out here? How exactly does that help them? Just for reference, in the past they asked me for Transaction IDs from my last bought items which i delivered, they asked for names of my deleted characters which i delivered, they asked for my IP and Location which i delivered. I can understand all of them because they do make sense...but waiting 9 days for a request like that?

Oh, and Support also asked me whether i Play with steam or the standalone. I played the standalone when i had no choice but Play with steam since PoE is available on steam. They do know that i am playing with steam only now and yet they ask me not only to create a throwaway account but also create a character on that account? So you want me to download the standalone JUST for a ridiculous request like that?

Sorry for the vent, i am really getting pissed about that. I am receiving one mail per week maximum from them and yet they ask 1-2 questions (like IP+location) per mail only, WHY? Why cant you just ask for all of those verifying stuff in one mail?

Posted Apr 9, 2019, 6:06 AM UTC

115
carson63000•

You say they asked for your IP and location which you delivered - maybe they want to confirm their accuracy by getting you to log into the game?

3
blaringbanjobeaver•

Not only that. I'm 99% sure PoE collects way more metadata about you than your IP and location. If OP logs in with a second account they can compare said metadata to help them in their research.

3
ElelishOP•

That might be the case, but i still think their behaviour is strange. Why cant they just ask for all of those Information in one mail? I thought after they asked for Transaction IDs they would have enough Information to be sure that i am the owner of the account. It is very tiresome to receive one mail every 7-9 days just to be asked to deliver a small Piece of Information, then wait 7-9 days again for the next tiny Piece of Information...at this rate i would consider myself lucky to be able to Play again when 4.0 hits -_-

1
Erisymum•

Imagine. You are on holiday for the week. Hacker sneaks in your Poe account and takes the whole thing. Then it gets banned for having a suspicious IP address and the hacker sends a ticket. But like 90% of unaware people who use the internet, you only have 2 passwords and the hacker has the password for your email address, which he's guessed by looking through your steam settings because your steam account also had the same password. He replies to the ticket, gets it unbanned in a few days after jumping one or two hoops, maybe a VPN and another account, and changes all the emails it's linked to. Now you are 100% out of luck and you don't even know yet because it only took a week.

2
ElelishOP•

Makes 100% sense and i agree with you. The thread was mostly a vent for me because i needed it and i am sorry for that. You guys are right, it is good that they try everything to make 100% sure that nobody else can Claim the account...but paired with the Long waiting times for a simple 3 line reply it is getting very annoying unfortunately :/ But in the end it is for account safety which is good.

But then again they could finally make 2FA a Thing and 90% of the hack attempts wouldnt even be possible. This would destress their Support Situation aswell.

1
Erisymum•

Companies that manage any type of security are in a constant battle of wierd counters with bots and hackers. Ip locations, bought emails, automation, keypress timing, verifying interaction with an actual human, etc. In this case, if it took only one email and one interaction total to regain an account, what if the email got/was still compromised? What if a hacker only needed 10 minutes total of his human time per account? That gap between lets them verify what's going on, perhaps install a quick countermeasure, and slow a would be attacker from getting the jump on them.

Lastly it's pretty much known that the support workflow is a queue, i.e new stuff goes on the end

2
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1
HatsuneMikuIsMyWaifu•

Do as they say? You said you got hacked on steam? So..., your steam account got hacked? Last time I checked, when linked to steam you no longer have credentials, but rather an unique id that allows you to access all poe content trough steam. This why the hassle with link/ unlink poe from steam.

1
ElelishOP•

No my poe account got hacked. He just used the standalone Client since he wouldnt be able to get through steam verification.

You are able to use both. I think you cant just use the standalone Version when you created your account on steam, but the other way around it works. My account got created before PoE was on steam and iirc we just had to link our accounts to steam back when they started on steam.

1
ultratiemDeliver pain exquisite•

I think you have a right to be upset. I would be if I were you. You got hacked. That's traumatic enough.

What they are asking is for your protection. But it's like this. I call you and ask to meet. I've never met your before. So I ask you to wear a red shirt and a hat. Go to the Starbucks on the corner, order a latte and sit outside at a table facing east. I then look for a guy that's doing all that and will know with most certainty that it's you.

Same deal here. It seems overly elaborate but they just want to make sure.

With that said, what they are asking and the time it's taking them is not ok. Hope you get your account up and running. And hope one day GGG strengthens their security with 2FA.

1
ElelishOP•

What they are asking is for your protection. But it's like this. I call you and ask to meet. I've never met your before. So I ask you to wear a red shirt and a hat. Go to the Starbucks on the corner, order a latte and sit outside at a table facing east. I then look for a guy that's doing all that and will know with most certainty that it's you.

Oh i didnt expect that, but i can wear a red Shirt if you want! (:

Same deal here. It seems overly elaborate but they just want to make sure

Yes i can understand that...kinda, at least. I just dont get how "ip+Location", then "past 3 Transaction IDs" (both are very easy to understand WHY they want that from me) and then something ridiculous as "create a new throwaway account and tell us the Name of it". They even tell you to use a throwaway email that doesnt even have to exist. I am feeling like a Lion getting forced to jump through Loops for the fun of it.

With that said, what they are asking and the time it's taking them is not ok. Hope you get your account up and running. And hope one day GGG strengthens their security with 2FA.

Thanks a lot. After getting mostly negative replies this helps me more then you would expect. 2FA indeed would have saved my account, but i dont want to put the blame on GGG. Getting hacked is my fault and even through it happened through a train of unfortunate coincidences, it still happened because i was stupid 8-10 years ago.

1
lamiROARLeague•

I recently went through the same spiel (didn't get hacked, just wanted them to remove the unlocking process from my account). Creating a throwaway account was actually the very last step so maybe you are close to getting your acc back. As for the why - I wondered the same thing and asked them, but they said they can't explain due to security reasons. Just said that this step is a very important part of the verification process.

Just roll with it :)

1
ElelishOP•

Thats an awesome information, so perhaps i am finally done with this whole Story soon. Thanks a lot!

0
Johnny_The_Room•

Just create account with name "GGG support sucks monkey balls" or something like this. They should fix your problem in no time.

0
ElelishOP•

"Name already taken" :(

1