In other words, "don't let it happen again." In fact, Nintendo didn't seem to believe me at all, ending the conversation not with an apology, but a warning: Nintendo will only unban a suspended account once. Even so, the resolution was slightly unsettling: despite being major news on CNET, CNN and Forbes earlier that year, the agent was completely unaware of the hack that left 300,000 Nintendo Accounts compromised. The second customer service representative listened to my story and quickly resolved the issue, restoring my account to good standing within minutes. I knew things were getting serious when the hold music changed from the generic, easy listening of Opus Number One to the soaring, victorious theme of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field. This time, Nintendo's customer service agent referred me to a higher tier of support. Their online play was just… broken, without explanation.Īfter waiting a day for a solution, I became impatient and called back. Worse still, neither of them knew what was happening or why. My wife couldn't play Animal Crossing with her friends, and my brother's quest to ride Fortnite's battle bus was stymied. As the primary account holder of our Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership, my ban effectively cut my entire family group off from online play. To play Nintendo Switch games online, you need to subscribe to the Nintendo Switch Online service, and multiple Switch consoles can be registered to a single family plan to save money. The hardest hitting limitation wasn't what the ban did to me, it's what it did to my family. So, it's purgatory, but with Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Physical game cards and previously downloaded games are playable, but that's about it. It's the same story for browsing the eShop, updating games or accessing anything that uses online functionality, including Super Mario 35, the Nintendo Switch Online NES and SNES game libraries and online play in any game. Try that, and you'll be told that "the information you entered is incorrect." What about checking your friends list to see what all your buddies with valid accounts are playing? Try it, and the Nintendo Switch asks you to sign-in to a blocked account. #Cheat happens account download#Want to download something from your digital game library? Sorry, your account can't be used. The console presents you with so many possibilities for entertainment, but blocks you at almost every turn. Using a Nintendo Switch with a banned Nintendo Account is like living in purgatory. In the meantime, I set out to find out what my Nintendo Switch could still do with a banned account. Nintendo asked me to sit tight for a few days while they escalated the case to their finance department. They did, however, confirm the ban, and got to work resolving the issue for a second time. In fact, they seemed shocked to learn that a hacker could use a Nintendo Account's saved payment method to steal Fortnite vBucks. I explained what happened back in May, but this particular customer service representative wasn't familiar with the attack that compromised 300,000 accounts. Turned out I hadn't been hacked again, Nintendo had flagged my account for the original hack, half a year after it happened. I called Nintendo about the unexpected ban. Until, six months later, when Nintendo banned my account without explanation. Nintendo was familiar with the hack and didn't object to having the charge reversed. The Nintendo customer service representative seemed fine with that. Back then I immediately got in contact with Nintendo to dispute the $100 charge for Fortnite vBucks, informing them the purchase was unauthorized and that I was getting it refunded through my payment provider. And by logging into Fortnite with a separate account first, the attacker could use the compromised account's credit card to buy themselves vBucks, Fortnite's in-game currency. Hackers found they could log into vulnerable Nintendo Accounts and make purchases on the eShop using the account's saved payment information. It didn't take me long to figure out what had happened.īack in April of 2020, 300,000 Nintendo Accounts were compromised in an attack that used old passwords from the defunct Nintendo Network ID account system. The only option Nintendo offered was a "sign out" button, effectively showing me the door. In an instant, I'd lost access to hundreds of dollars worth of digital games. Nintendo had banned my account, effectively locking my Switch out of accessing any online service - including online play, new downloads and even my existing game library. I logged into my Nintendo Account from a web browser and confirmed my worst fear. My Nintendo Switch said "an error caused the download to be suspended." That the "purchasing Nintendo account could not be used."
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