Earlier this week, British tabloid The Sun ran a story, pointing to a series of "phishing" con jobs that were putting Xbox 360 owners at risk.
It sounded overblown—phishing scams are hardly new—but the paper cited a late night meeting with Xbox brass in its "exclusive" story.
Microsoft responded to the claims, stating that there was no hack and stressing measures it was taking to improve security. Today, however, The Sun ran another story, stating that Xbox Live has been hacked, and Xbox 360 gamers are saying Microsoft is covering up the hack. From The Sun:
...dozens of angry readers contacted The Sun to tell how crooks bought Microsoft Points on their accounts to trade on to users in countries like China, Nigeria and Russia - even though they didn't pass on any personal details or visit phishing websites.
Many victims of the scam exposed by The Sun have been hit for multiple purchases of £42.50 - just under the limit that most banks check.The points, the currency of Microsoft games, have then been sold on to other players abroad.
"I was a victim but had not given out any personal details," gamer Matthew Moore told The Sun.
According to The Sun, the incidents were largely linked to FIFA 2012. Last month, FIFA-loving hackers struck Xbox Live accounts. Earlier this month, Microsoft admitted the intrusion, but was adamant that it was not a hack.
As website CVG pointed out, this could be old news. It could also be new incident.
This morning, Microsoft responded (via website MCV) to these latest claims that Xbox Live was hacked, stating, "As we commented on Tuesday, the Xbox Live service has not been hacked. However, we are investigating a number of recent customer complaints relating to Xbox Live customer service—particularly in the way that we have processed refunds to customers that have been victims of phishing related fraud.
"Consequently, we are taking several steps to address and resolve these particular issues as soon as possible and working closely with our affected customers to investigate and resolve any unauthorized charges made to their accounts resulting from recent phishing scams.
"Finally we would like to apologise to any customers who have not experienced a good service from us."
Kotaku is following up with Microsoft regarding the issue and will update this post should the company comment.
Now The Sun claims 'Xbox fraud cover up'... [CVG]
Microsoft insists again: Xbox Live "has not been hacked" [MCVUK]
Microsft Accused of Xbox Fraud 'Cover-Up' [The Sun]
(Top photo: Casey Rodgers | AP)
You can contact Brian Ashcraft, the author of this post, at bashcraft@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.