supers0ak
Enthusiast
Supers0ak FTW's Guide to Making Your Account Unjackable
(brought to you by Halo: Reach's #1 Booster)
Steps:Protecting Your Email:
• Your email needs to be an @live, msn, hotmail.com, etc. account. Any Microsoft email you can sign into at http://www.hotmail.com/ counts.
• Now with your Microsoft email account, you want to click on your name (in the upper right hand corner of the page) and select "Account". Next, go to "Security Info" and click "Manage" which should take you to https://account.live.com/Proofs/Manage. From there, you want to setup an alternate email and a secret question for your account.
• Change all the information on your account to something fake, you don't want your real info on your account in case someone doxes you (finds out all your real information). If your email is one you use for multiple real life accounts on websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. I suggest you change your gamertag over to another email so that you won't have to worry about possibly losing access to all your important accounts.
Save All Your Account Info:
• You wouldn't believe how many people seem to forget the email and password associated with their gamertags these days, this information is extremely important to keep track of. I think I can safely say our xbox live accounts are very important to all of us here on Se7ensins. There are a couple key points you'll want to save from your account. The following pieces of information are required on the official password reset form, which can be found at https://account.live.com/ResetPassword.aspx should anything ever happen to your account. All of this information can be found between https://account.live.com/SummaryPage.aspx and https://account.live.com/EditProf.aspx. Make sure you save the following information (all the parts that are applicable to you) in a word document, or something similar on your computer:
Example Email Document
Contact Email Address: [email protected]Windows Live ID Account: [email protected]
Account information
First Name: John
First Name: Smith
Date of birth: 1/15/1981
Country/region: United States
State: California
ZIP Code: 90210
The secret answer to your question: Answer
Former password(s): password1 (up to four).
Hotmail information
Subject line of some emails you've recently sent: If none, leave the lines blank (up to four).
Name some of the folders you've created: If none, leave the lines blank (up to four).
Email addresses of any contacts/people you've recently sent emails to: If none, leave lines blank (up to four).
Billing Information
Last five digits of the Xbox LIVE or Zune pre-paid card number: This means the last 5 numbers on the 1 month, 3 month, or 12 month code you last used. If you don't know this information don't feel bad, most people don't.
Name as it appears on the credit card: John Smith
Last four digits of the credit card number: 1234
Credit card expiration date: January 2014
Using Fake Information:
• It's always good to use fake info on whatever email you use for your gamertag. If you use your real info, there's always the possibility someone could dox you (find out all the real information about you) and reset your password using the password reset form themselves. So to prevent that, you want to use a fake name, city, address, zip code, and date of birth so that no one will ever be able to dox it. And then you may ask, but how will I remember all the fake info about a fake person? Well that's easy, that's why you're keeping the information from every email you use for a gamertag in a word document!
• If you're having trouble thinking up fake information, you can just make it a friend's name, and then pick a random state, a random city in that state, and then look up a zip code for that city. That's all you need, and congratulations, you now have your alternate persona created.
Using Fake Xbox Live Billing Information:
(Note: If you have a real credit card on your xbox, your billing information must be real in order to use your card. Keep that in mind.)
• Just like it's important to use fake information on your email account, it's equally important to have fake info for your billing information on xbox live. Now a hacker can't call Microsoft to try to social engineer your email address, but they can try to social engineer your billing info from the lovely folks over at 1-800-4MY-XBOX. You want the information here to be different from the fake info on your email, and again you want to keep this saved in a word document just in case you ever need to look at it. You'll also want to have a special email account filled with fake info that you only use with your xbox live billing info, not as a monthly rotational email (You only have to make your billing info fake once, you don't need to consistently change it nor the fake email you created for the billing info).
• To edit your billing info, go to your dashboard and then go to: My Xbox -> *click on your profile* -> Manage Account -> Billing Information.
Example Billing Info Document
Billing Address:1234 Fake StreetCity: Anaheim
State: California
ZIP Code: 92806
Phone: (123) 456-7890
Email: [email protected]
Rotating Email Accounts:
• A very unknown feature of xbox live, is that you have the ability to change the email account associated with your gamertag once every 30 days! This feature is only available on your xbox itself when you're signed into xbox live. To change the email, go to your dashboard and then go to: My Xbox -> *click on your profile* -> Manage Account -> Windows Live ID.
• You can choose to rotate your gamertag among as many email accounts (that are using fake information) as you'd like. Some people prefer just using two, but personally I like having a different email account for every month of the year. I have 12 emails I can rotate my gamertag between. Yeah, good luck jacking me.
How Does This Keep Me Protected?:
• The Alternate Email - Well I'm glad you asked! To start with, having a secret question and an alternate email setup is very important. That way if you ever forget your password, or it's stolen you know you have a way to regain access to your account. Now even if a hacker does reset your password, the amazing thing about having an alternate email is that it makes your email virtually unjackable, even if they change your password! Yes, if someone fills out a password reset form, they might be able to change your password on you, but they can't remove or change your alternate email address. The only way to remove an alternate email is by getting a confirmation email sent to that other account, and then you have to click the "Yes I would like to remove this email" option. Otherwise, it's never coming off! You will always have a way to regain control of your email, no matter what.
• Rotating Your Email - Now, even if they can't change your alternate email you make ask, can they still steal my gamertag? The answer is yes. They could always go on the dashboard and change the Windows Live ID associated with your gamertag, but only if you haven't been changing it on a consistent monthly basis. If you have been following this tutorial and switching up the email account every month, if a hacker recovers your gamertag and tries to change the email, they won't be able to! They'll just be stuck there sitting with your account, waiting for you to regain control of it thanks to your alternate email.
• Using Fake Information - And last but not least, you've already drastically reduced the chances of a hacker ever gaining control of your account to begin with! They can't dox you because all the information on the email is fake, so how are they going to do that? Unless you've fallen for a phishing scam or something, this step alone should be just about enough to keep your account safe and secure.
Frequently Asked Questions/Misperceptions:
Should I have a Credit Card on my Account?
• Well, it's hard to give a clear answer on this one, as its answer is very controversial and opinion differs from person to person. Personally I say no, because if your account is ever stolen, then they could use it to buy games, add-ons, avatar items, or whatever they want using your money, which will just create a huge headache for you having to call your bank and such. It's also considered bad because if someone is filling out a password reset form on your account and they've somehow figured out the credit card number linked to your account, that's basically all they need. Even if all the other information about the account is wrong, nine times out of ten Microsoft has the mentality that if this person knows the credit card, it must be theirs, and it's their money, and that's their number one priority, the safety of your money, and they grant access to whomever can provide it. On the other hand, some people consider this a good thing because since the credit card number is basically the only piece of information you need to know about an account to get it, it can also be used to regain control of an account very easily without having to go through a bunch of hoops in the verification process. But again, I recommend not having one. The decision is yours.
• If you do have a credit card on your account, and after reading this guide you've decided you to want to remove it, the only way to do so is by calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX and ask them to remove it for you. If they tell you this will make your account turn silver, don't worry. They will also tell you that a 1 month, 3 month, or 12 month code will be provided to cover the remaining time on your account.
Can I use the same alternate email, password, secret question for all my email accounts?
• Yes, you may.
I forgot the email that's associated with my gamertag, how can I find out what it is?
• You can find out what email is currently associated with your gamertag by going to the dashboard, and then navigating to: My Xbox -> *click on your profile* -> and it should show up right there in the Account Management window.
Are there any precautions I should take before sharing my account with a friend?
• Yes, if you're going to let a friend borrow your account, you should always change your password before letting them recover it, and once they're done using it, change it back. You don't want to let anyone else know the real password for your email account, ever, friend or not.
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