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No Xbox Live hack say insiders

But gamers losing money to phishing scams

Microsoft sources have denied a claim that Xbox Live has been hacked, stating instead that gamers said to have had up to £100 lifted from their accounts were victims of phishing scams.

Allegations that cyber criminals have "hacked into thousands of Xbox Live accounts to steal millions of pounds" in the UK were made by The Sun newspaper this morning.

However, sources close to Microsoft insisted there is no evidence that any account has been hacked.

Xbox 360 250GB

But the source admitted there has been an increase in attempts to gain punters' login credentials through deception - phishing.

Other attacks involve criminals attempting to befriend gamers through social networks in the hope of gathering information to reveal login details.

Microsoft has previously warned Xbox users to be on the look out for such cons.

However, Microsoft must do more to improve security, Jason Hart, MD of security firm Cryptocard, told Reg Hardware.

"Clearly too many weak links remain," he said. "At the moment gamers aren't being properly authenticated when they log on as gaming companies continue to use static passwords.

"You can't stop thieves sneaking up to the back door, but you can put in place measures to stop them breaking in."

Last month, a number of Xbox 360 owners revealed that their accounts and credit cards had been compromised, with stolen MS Points spent on Fifa 12 content packs. ®

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