Many Origin Accounts Compromised, Used for Unauthorized Purchases

It's a never-ending story for all of us having online accounts for multiple services that we use often to buy the stuff we need, as reports of another hack makes headlines in the last days of 2014.

PC gamers owning an Origin account may want to check their purchase history for any unusual orders they don't remember placing, because some accounts may have been compromised.

There's a huge thread on reddit where lots of Origin users claim they have been charged for games they never bought. Although in most cases EA offered to refund the amount charged from the Origin account owner, many aren't even aware that their accounts have been compromised.

Some people discovered the security breach of their accounts when they repeatedly received messages that they were already logged in to their Origin account on another computer.

The good news is that EA is already aware of these issues and those with compromised accounts are offered refunds quite fast. For the time being, it looks like the games most people see showing up on their accounts without them previously buying are Far Cry 3, Assassin's Creed: Unity, and FIFA 15.

Also, lots of Origin users report that their accounts were used to purchase large amounts of FIFA points, which can then be transferred to other accounts.

If you use the same password on other websites, we recommend changing it there as well

It's unclear to what extent the Origin service has been compromised, but back in November a group called DerpTrolling claimed they had hijacked 1.7 million Origin accounts.

In order to avoid your Origin account being compromised, you might want to change your password immediately and activate the 2-step verification method for extra security.

It will probably be annoying at first because it will take longer to log in to your Origin account, but at least you will be much safer from these kind of attacks.

Once again, don't forget to check your purchase history for any unusual orders. If your account has been compromised, you might also want to delete your payment information.