Information regarding unauthorized access

Unauthorized Access

Unauthorized access refers to a third party (someone other than the actual account user) accessing an account without permission, and/or using information somehow obtained from the user. This is not only a violation of the PlayOnline User Agreement, but also a criminal act in violation of the law.

Even if someone who has had an account accessed by a third party manages to take it back and successfully log in, it is not uncommon for items, gil or even characters to be missing.

The following guidelines set out the preventative measures that we are taking to safeguard users from unauthorized access, as well as procedures for recovering a user account in the case that it is accessed by a third party.

Preventative Measures Against Unauthorized Access

The following are preventative measures to safeguard users' account information from malicious third parties.


Square Enix's Countermeasures for Dealing with Unauthorized Access

Management and security of your PlayOnline ID and password is solely your responsibility. This is set out in Article 5 of the PlayOnline User Agreement. However, in the real world, Square Enix recognizes that a user may have their account accessed by an unauthorized third party and may suffer damage to their account or characters through no fault of their own. In such a situation, Square Enix will follow the procedures outlined in the diagram below.


Square Enix will perform its own investigation.

If you think that account has been accessed by an unauthorized third party, please contact the Square Enix Information Centre. We will perform an internal investigation to determine whether or not there was unauthorized access. Because unauthorized access is a criminal act, we may also ask you to contact the police so that a formal criminal investigation can be conducted. A specialized team within Square Enix will assist the police in any criminal investigation if asked for assistance.

Square Enix may at its discretion provide two kinds of assistance for customers whose accounts have been accessed by third parties: “account recovery” and “game data recovery.” Both of these may be provided based on the results of our own internal investigation without waiting for the conclusion of the law enforcement investigation. “Account recovery” erases the disciplinary measures history for the period that the account was being accessed, as well as fixing the password changes and other data that was altered during the period of unauthorized access. “Game data recovery” restores an account's game data to the state it was in before it was damaged through unauthorized access. Game data recovery, however, can only be requested once per customer. (Multiple accounts can be dealt with on a single recovery request).


Procedures for Account Recovery

If you cannot log in to your account, you can log in to your account but items have disappeared, or you suspect that your account may have been accessed by a third party, please contact Square Enix. After your situation has been assessed, we will proceed to one of the two procedures outlined below.

Account Recovery

“Account Recovery” involves returning an inaccessible account to the original user who registered the account. Deletion of the disciplinary measures history for the period that one's account was being accessed is also a part of account recovery.

[ Step 1: Contacting Square Enix ]
Please check the Square Enix Support Centre FAQ under "Account Recovery" if you are unable to login to PlayOnline with your normal PlayOnline ID and password, as it is possible your account has been accessed by a third party.

If you become aware of unauthorised access outside of the Information Centre's hours of operation and possess multiple PlayOnline IDs, log in from another PlayOnline ID and contact a Game Master (GM). The GM will make the accessed account temporarily unavailable. However, please note that a GM cannot perform account related actions such as changing a password, so it will be necessary to check the Square Enix Support Centre for the related FAQ.

>>Square Enix Support Centre

[ Step 2: Verifying your PC's Safety ]
It is possible that a third party stole your PlayOnline ID and password through a virus or spyware that had infected your PC. If your PC is infected with such programs and you enter the new password you received from the Information Center, your account could again be accessed by an unauthorized third party.

Update your security software to the latest version and perform a virus scan. If your computer is infected with any viruses, exterminate them immediately and afterwards once again change your PlayOnline password.

After you log in to your account, check whether or not your game data has been damaged. Remember to report the crime to the police.


*Deletion of the disciplinary measures history will occur after Square Enix's internal investigation regarding the unauthorized access has concluded.

Game Data Recovery

If you discover that your game data has been damaged or altered as a result of unauthorized access, please contact Square Enix within 7 days of your account's recovery. Game data will be recovered for customers who fulfill the following two requirements.

[ Step 1: Contacting Square Enix ]
Please check the Square Enix Support Centre FAQ in cases where you can login to your account, but you realise an item is missing.

>>Square Enix Support Centre

[ Step 2: Verifying the Notes of Concern Regarding a Game Data Recovery Request ]
You will need to agree to the notes of concern listed below (please read them carefully before contacting Square Enix).

  • Through server backup data, the game data will be returned to its state before your account was accessed by an unauthorized third party.

    Please note, we cannot specify exactly which point of time the data will be returned to. We also cannot return the data to a time frame designated by the user.

    Depending on the timing that the backup data for recovery is created, there may be certain items up for auction or yet to be collected from the delivery box. In such cases, the items are not recoverable.

    There may be cases where, the backup data is not saved and game data recovery is not possible.

  • Game data recovery can only be requested once per customer.
    (Multiple accounts can be dealt with on a single recovery request)

  • There are cases where a character’s name may not be available or recoverable due to a world transfer or other circumstance where another character with the same name already exists.

  • The account will not be accessible until the game data recovery has concluded.

  • If it is discovered that a false game data recovery request has been made, action will be taken according to the PlayOnline User Agreement.

    When the recovery work has concluded, we will contact you by e-mail.
    You will need to verify that your registered e-mail address is valid and is not your PlayOnline e-mail address.

  • If we cannot find any evidence of unauthorized access through our internal investigation, your game data will not be recovered.

[ Step 3:　Sending Copy of Official Documents ]
After contacting the SquareEnixInformationCenter, please send a copy of one of the official documents listed below so that we can verify your identity. If the information in the document is different from your registered information, we may refuse to recover your account or game data. Registering false information with PlayOnline is a violation of the PlayOnline User Agreement.

Driver's license / Passport / Birth Certificate

*We will tell you where to send the documents when you contact us.
*Users' documents will only be used for verifying your identity and will only be stored for a short period of time, then destroyed.

[ Step 4: Wait for Restoration Completed Notification E-mail from Square Enix ]
Square Enix will contact you by e-mail with the result of the recovery once it has concluded.

Click here to view the compromised account policy.