Nintendo is disabling Nintendo Accounts login via Nintendo Network ID (NNID), because 160,000 accounts have been affected by hacking attempts.
Nintendo said that since the beginning of April, "login IDs and passwords illegally obtained through some means other than our services have been used to access these accounts."
Information including account nickname, date of birth, country, and email address may be accessed in this vulnerability incident, and some accounts have also encountered fraudulent purchases.
Nintendo now recommends that all users enable two-factor authentication. The passwords of the affected accounts are now being reset. These old NNNIDs are usually used for 3DS and Wii U devices.
Nintendo's latest Switch game console uses the updated Nintendo account system, but until today, these old accounts can continue to access the new account system.
Affected users will also be notified via email, and the company warns that if you use the same NNID and password for your Nintendo account, then "your balance and registered credit card / PayPal may be in the 'My Nintendo Store' or The Nintendo online store was used illegally. "
Media reports earlier this week stated that some Nintendo accounts were hacked, and many people used the accounts to purchase digital projects, such as those bundled with Fortnite VBucks.
Nintendo is asking affected users to contact the company so that it can investigate the purchase history and cancel the purchase.
Visit the official announcement:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/support/information/2020/0424.html
Here is an auto-translation of the announcement from Japanese to English:
Report on unauthorized login to "Nintendo Network ID" and request for safe use of "Nintendo Account"
Thank you for your continued support of our products.
This time, using a login ID and password information obtained illegally by some means other than our service, a phenomenon that seems to have been made by impersonating the "Nintendo Network ID (* 1, NNID)" from around the beginning of April We have confirmed that it is occurring.
We also confirmed that there was an illegal login to some "Nintendo accounts" via NNID using this impersonation login.
Therefore, we are announcing today that we have abolished the function of logging in to a Nintendo account via NNID.
In addition, passwords will be reset sequentially for NNIDs and Nintendo accounts that may have been illegally logged in.
<Request to customers>
We will notify you by e-mail to the NNID and Nintendo account that the password was reset, so please reset your password (* 2) the next time you use it. In that case, please avoid reusing the password that you have already used for other services.
If you have already logged into your Nintendo account via NNID, please log in with your Nintendo account email address/login ID after the next login.
If you use the same password for your NNID and Nintendo account, there is a risk that your balance and registered credit card / PayPal may be illegally used at My Nintendo Store or Nintendo eShop. Please set different passwords for NNID and Nintendo account. In addition, if damage such as purchase history that you do not remember in your Nintendo account is confirmed in connection with this unauthorized login, conduct an individual investigation and then cancel the purchase etc. We will respond. Please wait as we will proceed with the procedure in sequence.
In addition, as you are informed, please set up two-step verification for your Nintendo account so that you can use our services safely and safely.
The details of the impact of this matter are as follows.
- NNID that may have received unauthorized login
- About 160,000 accounts
Information that may have been viewed by a third party
The following information registered in NNID
Nickname, date of birth, country/region, email address
Due to the influence of unauthorized login to NNID, the following information of Nintendo accounts (excluding those for which two-step verification is set) linked with NNID may have been viewed by a third party.
The following information registered in your Nintendo account
Name, date of birth, gender, country/region, email address
There is no credit card number in the information that may have been viewed.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and concern to our customers and related parties. In the future, we will make further efforts to strengthen security and ensure safety so that similar events do not occur.
To prevent unauthorized use of your own account, please note the above <Request to Customers> to use our account.
