Protect your personal data

Aug 5, 2008 14:08 GMT  ·  By

Various Xbox Live users report that a new scam message seems to be making the rounds and warn everyone using the service provided by Microsoft and all the owners of an Xbox 360 to be careful with the messages they receive.

The new scam appears in the form of a message, from one of the people on your friends list, that reads "M2AF everybody go to loginxbox.tk I just got 1600 MS points Hurry though!! I think it is a limited time offer". The authenticity is increased by the bad spelling, which is a staple of Xbox Live messages and by the fact that a friend, aka someone you trust, sent the message. There are even cases when you get the same message from more than one friend. Logging into the advertised site, you will be required to enter your personal data and you will be promised free Microsoft points which will, of course, never be delivered.

What makes it pretty clear it is a scam and not a legit message is that the address you are urged to use, loginxbox.tk, is in no way connected to Microsoft or to the official Xbox Live pages. The .tk domain is notorious for the fact that it is used for various illegitimate copies of well known company pages. Also, the Redmond giant rarely dishes out free Microsoft points and it would probably make a big noise about such a promotion.

If you have entered your data on the fake page, be ready to change your password and check to see if everything is OK with your account. Also, send a message to the people in your friends list, who have probably already been spammed with the scam message, and warn them of the dangers they might be exposed to.

The scam should die down in a few days, as everybody is informed about it and takes precautionary measures but be wary of other suspect messages in the future.