Hi All.

Turns out your money isn't safe in your Pokerstars account as i have found out this week.

I have been playing for over 10 years on stars with no incident, so i don't think i have any security issues with my log in/pw, however this week i received the following email:

We have conducted a full investigation into your account and we believe that your Stars password may have been compromised.

Our facts to support this are as follows:

The logins to your account show no failed attempts; whoever accessed your account knew your password perfectly.

Computer finger printing technology is utilized by our Security Team in order to determine which computer/device your account was accessed from. In this case, our investigation concludes that your account was accessed from a foreign computer/device where no logins were previously detected from. It is therefore possible that your login credentials have been compromised.

With regards to the bankroll in your account, unfortunately, the balance in your account was affected in this case:

The funds have been lost at the tables and we have only managed to recover a part of the funds. We have credited the recovered amount of USD 252.26 back to your Stars account.

To conclude this matter, we would like to advise you that we will not be liable for funds lost on your Stars Account. We will not be held liable for any losses as a result of insufficient security measures to ensure that your personal details remain secured. This is in accordance with the sections of our Terms of Service which state your responsibilities as an account owner.

We highly recommend for you to take necessary action in protecting your computer, email and Stars Account along with personal data stored in your computer. This includes, but not limited to; scanning your computer to ensure no harmful software are installed and changing the password in your registered email account and Stars Account as a precautionary measure.

I've seen the playing audit and the funds were just dumped to another player heads up.

I find it worrying that if some expert computer hacker accesses your details through no fault of your own, Pokerstars holds zero liability and basically tells you it's not their problem. I find it increasingly frustrating that they have acknowledged the log in was made from a suspicious foreign location, yet nothing was done to verify the authenticity of this log in until it was too late.

It's currently turned out for me, with a partial amount of the funds reclaimed that i have lost $200.

I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience and if there is anything you can do to escalate this?

Thanks
Jamie

This is how it's been dealt with since I first started playing on Stars in 2003 and for good reason. They'd get freerolled so easy by giving you your money back. Your account safety is your responsibility. If your computer gets hacked, that's not Pokerstars' fault. Why was your account secured by only a user id and password?

My account wasn't secured further as i had used it without incident for so many years.

I would imagine i represent the typical recreational Pokerstars player, in terms of being savvy enough not to share any confidential information or enter details on bogus websites, but also not adding any additional layers of security to the standard id and pw.

I guess extra frustration comes from the fact they can determine log ins being made from unusual locations without acting.

If they shut down an account every time it was logged in from an unusual location, no one would play on their sites. I imagine that way more people log in while traveling, than accounts that get hacked.

Like they say, your account security is your own responsibility. Make this a relatively cheap lesson learned.

RSA tokens ftw

Hi guys... I woke up this morning and got a few email messages from Pokerstars. Three were the normal emails you get when making a purchase in the store and the last was a warning that my account was accessed from a different location and IP address. I logged on quickly to my PS account and my bankroll is gone. Sent a email to stars and told them about it not being me. Shortly after, my account was frozen. Its been about 6 hours since this happened and I just received the same email as the first post in this thread. Seems kinda generic... Like they don't really care. Been at stars for over 10 years also and this is the first time I've had anything like this... Really disappointing that they just brush it off as being my fault. Granted it is not their fault, but all I have to go by is their word that someone accessed my account on the first try. Really pathetic...

Did they manage to recover any of your funds?

It’s definitely left a bad taste for me - don’t think I will bother playing online again...

This is so stupid in so many levels. If your account was safe 10 or 5 years ago it doesn't mean it's safe now. Criminals evolve yoiu know? Saying that it's like getting hit by a train after crossing the track succesfully for 10 years.

Not sure it’s that stupid, if the standard log in and pw is inadequate, stars should make additional security mandatory rather than optional.

As I mentioned, I would imagine the majority of recreational accounts (which make up a huge number of accounts) don’t take any extra measures. Stars should take more robust measures to ensure accounts are protected - simply suggesting extra security in their t&c’s isn’t good enough IMO.

And I would also imagine the majority of recreational accounts don't have enough money in them to make them a target for people wanting to "hack" their Stars accounts. For those with more to lose and wanting extra security, you've got extra measures if you want to use them.

That will likely irritate the hell out of recs who just want to sit down and play.

In defense of OP, I used to get a popup when logging in on a brand new device from a brand new IP - Asking me to confirm last 4 digits of debit card last used to make a deposit. Does this feature not exist now? I personally never added a Stars Pin or whatever other options there are now for this very reason - nobody could get past that pop-up even if they somehow got hold of my password.

To my knowledge, Stars haven't communicated this feature has ceased, or that they recommend to start using a "Stars Pin".

Think PS need to address why this feature has seemingly disappeared and to the OP - I certainly think a Stars Mod can help you out here so hope one will be in touch. Failing that, you can probably escalate those E-mails because you are just getting replies from the front line copy and paste army at the moment.

I have been a loyal Stars customer for nearly 12 years, even through all of the recent horrific changes - but this sort of thing where they take zero accountability - not just in this case, but the plenty of other "Stars Hacked" threads - really does leave a bad taste.

Good luck to you buddy.

My account was hacked this morning. Similar situation from the above posts. I got an email saying my account was accessed from a foreign country logged in and my funds were gone. Pokerstars says its my fault but now that I see this has happened to others it looks i'm thinking they have a breach.

This is the IP address where they claim my account was accessed from.

IP Address: 45.242.12.76
Location: GB ENG



I live in Canada.

Google recently published a report where they found "788,000 credentials stolen via keyloggers, 12 million credentials stolen via phishing, and 3.3 billion credentials exposed by third-party breaches."

You've had $200 stolen from you. That's probably a crime. Why not report it to your local police force?

45.242.12.76 is an Egyptian IP currently. Did they tell you it was from England, or did you add in that information?

Unlikely, but possible that a block of IPs moved from UK to Egypt since this morning

I just copy/pasted the email.

Email them back and tell them to update from maxmind

Ok so I got things settled with Pokerstars security and I have access to my account again. Lost a little over $100 and 3000 starscoins...
Whats really disappointing is the level of insensitivity from Pokerstars. The whole attitude seemed like 'its your fault for not protecting your password'...
Now I'm no computer expert but I do not keep my password stored anywhere on my pc or anywhere else for that matter. Which means it was stolen while I was logging into my account. Does that mean someone had remote access to my pc and could monitor my keystrokes when I logged into Pokerstars software? Does that not make it at least partially their responsibility due to lack of security in the software?
Like I said... I'm no computer genius and if I'm wrong, someone please tell me.
I'm really pissed at the whole situation and the fact that they will not give me any details about what happened other than an IP address and location. I trusted them and left money in an account and paid for their services every time I played for over 10 years. I guess the new Amayastars really doesn't give a rip about customer loyalty

No, not their responsibility. The way keyloggers work is that they read every keystroke that you make. It has nothing to do with Stars and everything to do with the security of your entire computer.

What would you like them to do for you? You electronically signed their ToS and should've known how they handle this.

Been 12hrs since i've emailed support and they still haven't gotten back to me. Looks like they're dealing with a lot of people that have been hacked today.

Sounds like you are defending Pokerstars...
My laptop is less than a year old running windows 10 and I run malware and antivirus scans weekly. I have never had any alerts to possible threats. like I said, I don't know much about computers but for them to just wash their hands clean is pretty pathetic... what shoud I do? withdraw my bankroll after every session and redeposit next time? I play daily so thats not an option with their current withdrawal rules...

As far as me being pissed? I requested hand histories and $130 was lost to a SINGLE player playing $.25/.50 HU NLHE accross 3 different tables...
I mean WtF? Isn't it obvious the chips were dumped into this account?
What happened next? Money was probably withdrawn ASAP and now Pokerstars is withholding this info...
My account had about $125 and 3200 starscoins... it now has $13.02 and 200 starscoins... I didnt take the time to review the exact amounts from the hand histories but what happened? Did the hacker decide to be generous and leave a small amount? Did Pokerstars find it in their hearts to give me back a little?
I seriously doubt it.
This is just speculation, but damn...

I am. Just read the first reply itt (mine) and you'll see why you don't deserve any back. As you said:

Not their fault. They're brushing it off as your fault because it is your fault. Why should they pay you back when it's not their fault?...as you said.

There is something to be said for good customer service and rewarding customer loyalty... Both of which built Pokerstars to what it is now. Sadly, both are now pretty much non existent under Amayastars...

And what about the other thing about them withholding information from me about what happened? It's pretty damn obvious... Where did the money go? I'm almost certain it was withdrawn ASAP. What happened to their all their security checks and ID and payment info validation??? I had to jump thru hoops just to get back into my account.... is it really that easy for someone to
A. create an account (and have ID verified)
B. Deposit
C. Hack my account and drain it to another account
D. withdraw the winnings?
I reported the theft within 3 hours of the last hand. I do appreciate quick withdrawals and usually can have cash in hand within an hour but I dont think it would really hurt much to have withdrawals take a day instead...

REALLY? Its that easy after all the bull***** I had to go thru just to regain access to my hacked account?

Edit: I just receive a reply from them after I emailed them about my hand histories. They said they were able to recover the $13 bucks and cannot give anymore info for security reasons... After all of this, why do I feel like the criminal and not the victim?

[QUOTE=.isolated;53148479]No, not their responsibility. The way keyloggers work is that they read every keystroke that you make. It has nothing to do with Stars and everything to do with the security of your entire computer.

Again, I don't know much about computers... but if I understand what you're saying, then I can assume that the PIN verification after password is useless?