FIFA 22 and EA are at the center of a scandal today as many big-name FIFA content creators, streamers, and players have reportedly had their accounts stolen.
Reporting first started with The Mirror before hitting most major games publications. Hacked accounts included the likes of Jamie Bateson (AKA Bateson87), NickRTFM, Trymacs, TisiSchubecH, FUT FG, FUT Donkey, JoaoSeleiro, narcoinsfc (Wael), and lNoahHDl. Each lost control of their accounts and their Fifa 22 Ultimate Team Clubs.
Although, "hack" might be a generous term. Apparently, the hackers didn't break passwords or finangle access to EA's servers through a hidden back door. Instead, they just spammed EA Help live chat services asking to reassign the emails associated with the creator's EA accounts. This eventually worked, locking the creator out and allowing the hackers free reign. Once given access, the hackers spent all their coins and traded away all their players.
"I plan to take legal action,” wrote FUT Donkey on Twitter. “They gave my account to a random person via the live chat, a clear breach of data protection laws"
What's worse is that FUT Donkey warned EA that they were being "targeted by hackers" and to not change anything without additional verification. "Nothing more I could have done and tbh I shouldn't have to do anything. It is basic security, disgusting stuff.
An EA spokesperson has since responded to the incident. "We’ve been made aware of recent account takeover attempts and are currently investigating," the spokesperson told The Mirror. “More information on how to secure your account, including how to enable two-factor authentication, can be found here."
FIFA is one of EA's biggest and most profitable franchises in no small part due to the microtransaction economy of Fifa Ultimate Team. FIFA 22 spent five weeks topping the UK sales charts and has raked in over £4 billion in the UK alone (thanks, VGC).