Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) has been made aware that out of the 70 million Sony PlayStation accounts compromised worldwide in the Sony Playstation Network incident, 3 million are based in the UK.
Sony has not yet confirmed if card details have been compromised but FFA UK is liasing closely with Sony with regard to this.
The banking industry has robust processes in place to protect its customers’ accounts by monitoring for suspicious or irregular card transactions.
If Sony confirms that card details have been compromised, and provides details to us of those accounts, card issuers can place alerts on these accounts. Further steps, such as blocking the account and/or issuing new cards can be taken if necessary.
There is no need for customers to contact their bank or card company at this stage. However, customers should continue to do what they should normally be doing - checking their statement and keeping a close eye on their account for any unusual activity – if they spot any they should then contact their bank or card company.
Many customers may use the same passwords for their PlayStation account as they do for other financial accounts – FFA UK recommends that they should change these passwords to something else as soon as possible. Similarly, customers may have had their email addresses and telephone numbers compromised in this incident, so they should be wary of responding to any unsolicited emails or telephone calls that ask for sensitive or financial information.
In the event that anyone is the innocent victim of fraud as a result of this incident, customers can have peace of mind that they will get their money back from their bank or card company.
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To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
