Thread: Account Hacked/Stolen - Info to Keep it From Happening, & What to do if it is Stolen.

If you believe that your account may be hacked or stolen, here are the steps you should follow to reclaim ownership:

1. Immediately run antivirus and anti-spyware programs on your machine to detect any possible viruses, key loggers, etc. If you have trouble doing this, please review any of the common antivirus websites or programs.
This step is VERY important, especially if a keylogger has ended up on the PC. A key logger will record not only your Turbine/game login, but any keystroke you enter. This can also include your forum login, your email login, any credit card and billing details you type in while it is installed, and more. I cannot stress how important it is to remove a key logger from your computer ASAP if one is installed, and not just for game security.

2. Attempt to login to your account at myaccount.turbine.com to determine if any of your login information has been changed. If it has, and you cannot log in, attempt to recover your password through the "Forgot Password?" link.

3. If you were unable to log in and recover your password, you will need to contact the Account Support department to update your account information. Please have the card holder call (or email) with the following information:
-the last 4 digits of the credit card on file
-the name of the card holder
-the billing address on file
-the email address you want to have on file.

4. After running antivirus/anti-spyware programs and logging into your account, change your password immediately to a new and secure password you do not use anywhere else.

5. Please note that your account may have been identified as potentially being accessed by a third-party by our In-Game department. Your account may be temporarily suspended to prevent any further access to your account. Please note that this does not indicate in any way that Turbine has been compromised; in most cases this indicates a security issue on the computer used to play the Lord of the Rings Online. If this has happened, please understand that this suspension is not a punishment, but a way to prevent further unauthorized access to the account.

If the account is banned, please contact In-Game Support by e-mailing via the form here. State your account name, that you have completed these instructions, and ask for the suspension to be lifted.

6. Once you have regained control of your account, log into each character. If you believe any items or money are missing, please submit a separate in-game report for each character. To ensure that your reimbursement ticket is dealt with as quickly as possible, please select Cheating as the primary category, then Account Compromise as the secondary category. These will be researched and a GM will contact you after they have investigated. Please note that this process may take up to a week or more. However you can play your character while you wait to hear back.

Also, please note that if any characters were deleted as a result of the account being compromised, you will want to log into that same server with a new or existing character and submit a ticket. Make sure in your ticket to include that the characters were deleted as a result of the account being compromised and a list of all characters that were deleted for further assistance.

If you do not have the ability to open help tickets from within the game, you can submit a single web inquiry to request assistance if your characters are missing items or were deleted due to a compromise. To submit a web inquiry please go here, then click the "Support Center" tab, then the "Submit a Ticket" link. Complete the form as fully as possible, and be sure to select "In-Game Support" and "Hacked/Stolen Account Report" for your type for the fastest response (as tickets to other departments may need to be re-routed).


A few important things to note:

Use a home network firewall at all times and check the exception list regularly for new entries.

Run anti-virus and malware scanning tools on a regular basis.

GMs will always have a + in their name. Only GMs can have a + in their name. For example, "+Bob" would be a GM.

No one who works for Turbine will ever ask you to give them money (in game or out of it) to avoid being banned.

No one who works for Turbine will ever need your password.

No one who works for Turbine will ever ask you to log into a website to keep from being banned.

You should only ever log in with your game/Account Management username and password combination on official Turbine websites (which include):
- the game
- the Account Management website: https://myaccount.turbine.com/
- the forums

We recommend that you do not use your specific game login (username and password combination) for other websites. Especially other gaming websites.

Change your password regularly to a new, unique password.


If you have questions about the security of your account (username, password, email) please have the credit card holder contact the Account Management department. They can also remove the credit card from the system at the request of the card holder. Please note that in order to remove the card, the next billing plan may need to be changed, since you can't have a re-occurring billing plan without a credit card on file.

If you have questions about your account in-game, please contact a GM. If you can't because you are banned, or want to provide additional feedback for GMs, you can email the supervisors of the GMs via the form here.


As SDM has noted elsewhere:
Please be aware that most cases of compromised accounts are due to malware (keyloggers) on a player's system, the use of gold buying websites, or phishing scams. We will help provide access to the owner of the account; however the responsibility of account security is the end user's.

Keeping your system clean and secure, not accessing suspect websites and especially not creating accounts with suspect websites, and never providing your password to anyone should prevent the vast majority hacked account issues.

Originally Posted by Victorie

6. If you believe any items or money are missing, please submit a separate in-game report for each character.

What does this mean exactly? From my understanding in-game we can either 'Report a Bug' or 'Write a Ticket'.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Ruthelia

What does this mean exactly? From my understanding in-game we can either 'Report a Bug' or 'Write a Ticket'.

Thanks in advance.

well is having your account hacked...a bug or user naivety?

You need to "Write a Ticket".

Bug reports are used to report things in-game that are not working as intended. These are tracked and reviewed, but no response or update is sent to the player who submitted the bug report.

Tickets are for in-game issues specifically concerning your character or a game play issue (or to report a violation, spammer, etc). These are read by a GM and an answer is sent or provided by chat.

Originally Posted by Darej

well is having your account hacked...a bug or user naivety?

It doesn't hurt to ask just to be sure, and really the two options you gave are not completely apt so your point is lost. People come to this part of the forum for help, often when they are stressed and unsure of what to do, or what they have done. If you don't have anything constructive to add, perhaps you should just keep your opinions to yourself.


Re: Victorie.

Thanks. Of course 1 hr after i wrote this, i received a message from the in-game support via email telling me to do the same .

Originally Posted by Ruthelia

It doesn't hurt to ask just to be sure, and really the two options you gave are not completely apt so your point is lost. People come to this part of the forum for help, often when they are stressed and unsure of what to do, or what they have done. If you don't have anything constructive to add, perhaps you should just keep your opinions to yourself.

what opinion?

i was trying to help you think it through logically.

i asked a question.

someone hacking your account is 99.999% of the time due to the account holders error.

now is this something you would report as a bug?

or something you would submit a support ticket for?

just because you may have felt silly for asking such a question is no reason to lash out at someone.

I have had the account I am currently posting on hacked. Only the login password was changed but the forums account still goes unharmed. When i call customer support, they tell me I MUST have the credit card number but i am unable to get that number. I can tell customer support everything about the account. Contact info, address, previous passwords etc. However just because i cant get those 4 numbers, I cant get my account back. Please help me. It has been a couple months and I would really like to play again. I am a founder and have played since beta.

-Swoogie McDoogie