Can an unauthorized sign-in on EA compromise my Xbox Live account?

Jaymo1978 · Apr 15, 2019

Hi folks! I'm fairly certain all is well, but I wanted to get some feedback. I just got an email today from EA (and it WAS from EA, it wasn't phishing, because I hovered over all of the links and they correctly point to e.ea.com addresses) saying that I
had a "new sign in on WEB" and checking to make sure it was me. I read the details, and it looked like the sign-in was from Russia through a web browser, at around 7:50 this morning Central Time (when I was in the car. I immediately logged in (not through
any of the links in the email, just to be safe) and changed my password, then enabled the Login Authorization feature, to get a code anytime an unrecognized device signs in.

Here's the question: I don't have any Payment Methods on my account, so nothing was stolen, there was no new password or account email created, so they didn't "take over" my account, BUT, I do have my Xbox Live account linked to my Origin account. So, can
they somehow access my Xbox Live account details through my Origin account? I logged in after I got everything reset, and it appears I can't access any information on my account, it just shows my Gamertag and "Xbox 360, Xbox One" as being linked to my account,
with a button to revoke access if I choose.

My EA password WAS different (and still is) from my Xbox Live password, so there's no danger of that, but I'm always a bit creeped out when there's an unauthorized access attempt on any of my accounts (those Epic emails were coming fast and furious for a
while, but nobody managed to get in over there.)

So, what does everyone think? Is my Xbox Live account safe as long as my passwords are always different, or do I need to change everything because they access my EA account?

Thanks in advance!

:)

Darkhawk Ninja

You can always add the two-factor authentication on your Microsoft account, as well. This might be a better option that changing the email associated with your Xbox account. As the others mentioned, though, your Xbox account should be safe either way.

XBF Diego M

Hi Jaymo1978,

Thank you for coming to the forums. I'd be happy to help.

While I don't personally have an Origin account, I think you are safe when you took the steps to change the password and enable the added security. The only thing that the hacker would have been able to probably see is the email associated with your Xbox
Live account but even then, they can't do anything with your Xbox Live account if they don't know the password. If you share the same password with your Origin account, I do recommend changing your Microsoft account password as well just to be safe, but that's
only if you share passwords between accounts. Microsoft accounts also have plenty of verification checks with your security contact details so a hacker would need access to any of those to force a password reset using the email they potentially might've seen
from your Origin account. But again, that is just speculation on my part since I don't own an Origin account. Best bet is to ask EA what information the hacker could've seen, but as mentioned earlier I think you're safe when you changed your password.

Let us know if you have any further questions!

Njal the Blue

I'd add two step verification to your Microsoft Account, here's how to go about it: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12408/microsoft-account-how-to-use-two-step-verification

A Wraith God

I would say only your EA Account is vulnerable at this point, your Xbox Live Account should be perfectly safe. If you prefer taking the more drastic/safe measures you can change both passwords.

Johnny Sinister

These cases of compromised accounts for Xbox Live are not 'hacks', but they are not exactly 'phishing' schemes either. It is a bit of a combination of both. The EA site got hacked, and with it, all EA user information.

The problem is, lots of people used the same account to sign up for EA's site as they do to sign up for Xbox Live (windows live ID).

Still, no big deal. The e-mail address is not enough to compromise an account.

The big issue is people used the SAME password for both sites. Hackers from the EA site now have e-mail addresses and possible passwords. If you used the same password for both, you are at risk.

Can an unauthorized sign-in on EA compromise my Xbox Live account?