Thanks, John.  That helps a lot.  Any other advice you could give is appreciated.

Hook

On ebay you can buy a steam account and the games already on that account, also includes the email address associated with that steam account.

List (includes Aerofly FS2):

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=steam+account+video+games&_sacat=0&rt=nc&Genre=Simulation&_dcat=139973

Example: (an account that owns Warhammer):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325177890314?hash=item4bb61cd60a:g:WDoAAOSwhcRidMtP

 

 

@Larry,

The reason I was repeatedly "hacked" was a failure on my part to read completely what Steam mentioned in the mails I recieved from them. My Gmail account had been compromised, something I had not realised until my FaceBook account was blocked as well. The first time I tried to retrieve my Steam account the email was sent to the "new" owner. Having a second option (phone) is not something I ever used and if they could change the email address then changing the contact number would be easy for them as well.

It was only when I contacted Steam directly that I was able to do anything about it, there again you've already gone through all this yourself. Since then (Nov last year) haven't been hacked (yet).

I have never used "123456" or "password" as a password but obviously not complicated enough !! Since then I have made sure that any "important" internet connections have new passwords using upper and lowercase letters, symbols etc. and more than 12 characters long. More of a pain to remember (though FireFox stores them) but now have them on paper as well (not in a document on the PC).

 

John

Got my email account back.  Finally got the web based password change to work.  Whew.  I'm going to stay logged in this time (I checked the proper box), although the last time they changed my password even when I was logged in.  Well, I guess I can change it back now.

If I think my password was spuriously changed I would never ask them to send me an email message to change it. 

Hook

Got my Microsoft account info verified, my password didn't work and the email addy to send a new one was correct.  Password reset properly. 

I was already signed into XBox Live, so I guess if I ever want to fly MSFS again I'll be able to. 😄 I haven't flown any flight sim in a year and a half.

If they haven't messed with any of my accounts in the next 24 hours they may have forgotten me and moved on.

If this kind of thing ever happens to you, keep the faith.

Hook

On 5/22/2022 at 1:59 PM, G-RFRY said:

Get the Steam App on your smart phone then steam will send you a code to authenticate your account. 

This is an excellent idea... but I don't have a smart phone.  😄  I could possibly use my wife's smart phone but there's some hassle doing that.

I never leave the house alone and I use a land line.  I haven't had any need to pay extra for my own smart phone.

Hook

Having your account hacked is frustrating. It would be good to look into setting up two factor authentication on your primary email account(s), as well as your Microsoft account and Steam account. While the best option usually is to use a smartphone app, they usually have other options such as SMS text messages or even phoning you with the code, all of which would help keep people out of your accounts.

A good password manager is also useful to help create and manage unique and more complicated passwords. For a free option, check out Bitwarden.

11 hours ago, LHookins said:

This is an excellent idea... but I don't have a smart phone.  😄  I could possibly use my wife's smart phone but there's some hassle doing that.

I never leave the house alone and I use a land line.  I haven't had any need to pay extra for my own smart phone.

Hook

Modern times are a bummer, aren't they?   Sorry to hear about your problems with your Steam account.

No new account problems.  Blood pressure back to normal.  Still getting lots of spam, but I can deal with that. 🙂 

I'll still be checking for account weirdnesses for a while.  Further updates here as needed.

Thanks for your support.

Hook

Been there a couple of years back, you have my sympathy… a Russian thief. I set the double authentification then, hope it works. 

Edited May 28, 20224 yr by Dominique_K

Same thing happened to me a couple years back, someone changed the email on my eBay account. 

Sorry for necroing this one. But does it help not to use your personal phone number in such cases?

Thanks for admiting you necroed. Anyway, now Steam has a two-factor authentication, using your e-mail. I'm not sure if this is by default or if you have to opt-in.

On 5/25/2022 at 12:04 PM, LHookins said:

This is an excellent idea... but I don't have a smart phone.  😄  I could possibly use my wife's smart phone but there's some hassle doing that.

I never leave the house alone and I use a land line.  I haven't had any need to pay extra for my own smart phone.

Hook

I sacked the landline it pays for smart phone which has APP for my bank account also. It tells me all transaction that flash on the lock screen and large amounts req me to authorize the payment before going through.

9 hours ago, G-RFRY said:

I sacked the landline it pays for smart phone

Many years ago I had a medical device, a communicator for a pacemaker, that required a landline.  It wouldn't work over Internet or a cell phone line.  Later the device was replaced by one that required an Internet connection, but that never worked, possibly because I was on satellite Internet at the time.  The company in question was... unhelpful.  Replaced my pacemaker with another brand when the battery finally ran down (8 Years!) with a communicator that worked over cell phones, and by now I had a cell phone tower close enough to use.  Wife had the same device, the new brand, which is how I knew to request it when the old one was replaced.

My wife uses the land line at home, my son and his wife use it as well (they live next door) and I have a wireless phone so all handsets go through the same base unit.

I occasionally get alerts from my bank by email.  Works just fine.  For example, my wife visits her brother in another state, makes a charge on a bank card, and the bank isn't sure about it and sends me an email to ask.  This has happened maybe 3 times in the last 20 years, so I'm not worried.  The bank won't pay unless I authorize the transaction, so I figure I'm safe.  I check email several times a day.

I live out in the boonies where cell phone connections are a bit spotty, although they have improved in the last couple of years.  The pacemaker communicator uses a different cell network than my family's cell phones.

While I'm still getting way too much spam occasionally, I haven't had any problems with accounts since my last post here.  I still check my Steam email address a few times a week. 

Hook

PS.  For those who care, the old pacemaker was Medtronics and the new one is Boston Scientific.  It's got something over 10 year battery life compared to 8 years on the Medtronics.  The Medtronics was also a defibrillator which fired once and is why I'm still here so I'm not gonna badmouth them too badly.  "I was dead once, but I got better."

The communicator interrogates the pacemaker and sends the info to my doctor every few weeks.  I can also send the info on demand, which I did after the defibrillator fired.

H.

 

Edited May 8, 20242 yr by LHookins