XBOX Live account compromised - Gamertag Stolen

Once a GT is free it's up for grabs there's no time limit that must expire before it becomes freed up. Now while you'll come back at me with "but it's my GT and this phisher stole it" you don't know it was the phisher who took it for themselves. For all you know this could've have been someone who happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time and while it's unfair that you had your nine year old online identity stolen it's hardly fair on the other person to say to them "oh terribly sorry we know you're the owner of this GT and shelled out 800MSp for this GT but the previous owner wants it back for reasons we can't disclose". Putting my interweb cynic hat on how are us lot, support or anyone else able to check your story is kosher? For all we know this could be an elaborate scam to get a GT for free. Not saying it is but all we've got is your word.

On to the business of the WLID exploit claim you posted. If such an exploit existed a lot more accounts would be getting nicked than currently are and from a lot more higher profile people (frequent posters on here, staff members et al). Hence I suggest to you the security hole is in your security, do a scan of your PC for any dodgy stuff, get a stronger password, make use of Hotmail's "reset my password every 72 days" function, make your secret question answer something that cannot be found on your Facebook page and make a dummy account that's just for your XBL account and nothing else. Moreover how are support supposed to know exactly who got a hold of your GT when this was supposedly caused by an exploit in the Windows Live ID system which would be the responsibility of the Windows Live support team not Xbox Live support.

I appreciate the cynicism. I am more than willing to talk to anyone in official capacity to confirm all my details. I promise the issue is not on my end. In fact my windows live ID was a yahoo account I haven't logged into in several years.

I linked that yahoo account to my primary email account so I would be notified of changes. I got an email notifying me that the password was changed. I thought that was strange, went on changed my password and all my security info and went on my marry way. The next day I try to log into xbox live, blamo, I had to recover my account. I immediately put 2 and 2 together, realized the yahoo account was my windows live ID and called customer service. They helped me change my WLID and started an investigation. It was during this initial conversation I asked the specific question, once the investigation is over, will I be able to have my old gamertag back. The explicit answer was "Yes" I repeated it as it was very important to me and again the answer was "Yes".

In talking to Kenny after the whole debacle he said the new gamertag that was created using my old name was created the same day, hour, of when my gamertag was changed. I appreciate it may be a coincidence but it is too much of a coincidence. I would also assume you don't think anyone would want my old name, I assure you it was very unique and very succinct, and would be sought after.

SteveandBrianne did you use the same password on PSN, EA, or really anywhere else? A large amount of accounts where compromoised in other companies, and if you used the same Email/Password anywhere else it is very possible that is how your WLID got compromised.

What was the Tag anyways?

It seems in the past month or so more, and more profiles are being hacked, or corrupted. The funny thing is(well not funny to me and the others this has happened to), but  there was a statement made about a week ago about recent spate of hacking attacks, and someone giving an official answer that "At this time we do not have any evidence Xbox LIVE has been compromised."  I would have to agree with SteveandBrianne, but it seems too much of a coincidence.

Whether or not it was a similar password would not matter. How would they know what email address is associated with my gamertag? And to answer your question no, I don't use the same password nor do I have a PSN account, EA or any other.

The tag was "Slave". I would gladly accept responsibility if I honestly thought I was at fault. My computers are thoroughly protected. I don't open random emails, or give out my personal information. Again I don't ever login to Windows Live or the email account that was associated with Windows Live so they would have had to have had some other way of getting my account information.

If you are using the same e-mail address and password for your XBL account that you use for other websites and services then you could have been compromised via one of them. Many people use Facebook to advertise their personal information, including their e-mail address, and then wonder why they get phished or social engineered or compromised.

If your account was LOCKED during the Unauthorized Access Investigation that MS performed then there would have been no way for anyone to use/get your GT. It would have come up as unavailable. Keep working with support to resolve your issue. (I know that is not what you want to hear but it is at this time the best option).

You may also want to contact Yahoo to see if indeed they did send out that specific e-mail to their customers. It is possible you were sent a FAKE e-mail from Yahoo by a phisher.

A hacker doesn't go looking to see if you have accounts using that e-mail and password with sites and services before trying them, they just try them in the obvious places and take what they can get.

It is possible something was linked to that account that I had long ago signed up for but it really has been dormant for the past 5-6 years. Unfortunately there is no way of me knowing exactly what it could have been that gave up my account details.

Yes my account was locked during the investigation. Unfortunately the gamertag was taken before I was able to get the investigation started.

I thought the phishing issue through when I got the email from yahoo. Instead of going directly through the email i navigated to yahoo on my own to address the issue. I am always suspicious of emails asking for me to log in to anything.

As for taking what they could get, the only thing they did was purchase enough points to change my gamertag and change my gamertag. Nothing else.

Also just double checked the email I used for my WLID against the Lulzsec database of emails and it was not on that list.

So the GT you are posting from is the new GT or the original one? Is the GT the only thing that is still not correct on your account?