The folks over at PS3 Fanboy have stumbled upon what could be the first attempt at phishing PlayStation Network accounts, in the form of a website called the “Home Beta Injector” which claims to grant instant access to those who enter their PSN account details.

Beware of the scam, and beware of the jump! Okay, not really, but just give us your account number, sort code and mother’s maiden name and you’ll be fine.

According to PS3 Fanboy, the PlayStation Home Injector scam involves a Wordpress blog (screencap) filled with ‘details’ on how to obtain quick, easy access to the Home beta. These include specific instructions such as “use your PSN account for 12 hours and log-in to the PS Store (so Sony can verify your account)” to make the whole thing look legit

Despite this, it’s not hard to see that it’s not been professionally done (with a rushed default blog skin and typing mistakes all over the place) and to any PSN user of reasonable intelligence it’ll be pretty obvious that it’s not coming from a reliable source. To web-savvy users who know that Sony wouldn’t allow you into the beta by giving them your username and password it’s just laughable.

Still, phishing scams have fooled many a person before out of much worse than their PlayStation Network account (although if you’ve got a credit card attached to your account then you’d better get on the phone to Visa ASAP if you fall for such a scam) so this is a friendly community warning to keep an eye out for such scams and avoid falling for them. If you spot them, don’t forget to get in touch with Sony too and let them know what’s going on. Here’s a few quick tips to avoid phishing, PSN accounts or otherwise:

• A genuine company will never ask you to e-mail them with your username and password or to enter it into a form to be submitted to them. If you’re being asked to send both over, lose it pronto.
• Check the address bar carefully. Some phishing scams will use website addresses that look extremely similar to the original (example: “visa.x.com”) and might be ignored at first glance. Mock-ups can look genuine and hence it’s worth checking everything out. Same goes for e-mail addresses if you receive messages purporting to be from a reliable source.
• Nearly every major web browser includes phishing tools that accumulate fake websites and scan addresses to check if they’re legitimate or not. Be sure to turn them on.
• If you come across a phishing site, be sure to report it to the company involved immediately so they can take action. Sony has already taken action to shut down the Home Injector scam but the chances are it wont be the last of them. Be vigilant, and be sure to warn people you know on the off-chance they might fall for it.

That about wraps it up! Stay sharp, people!

Beware of the Home Beta Injector scam – PS3 Fanboy

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