One of the most popular Pokemon GO players and streamers recently had his account hacked, and the hacker deleted some of his rarest Pokemon. FleeceKing is the world’s first player to have reached level 50 in Pokemon GO, for which he also holds a Guinness World Record.
My account has been hacked.Deleting my Pokémon, bragging about it.No one has my account details, I don’t know how and why this has happened. I am at a complete loss for words and am completely shaken up and sad.The Niantic team is working on getting it back. But with all… https://t.co/5Tov0nxKNq
— FleeceKing (@ItsFleeceKing) March 13, 2024
He has caught over 2 million Pokemon since 2017, so that’s enough to paint a picture of how much time and effort has been spent on the account, and how invaluable it must be for the streamer. While it is a sad reality that popular accounts do get hacked by people, often for ransom, however, this particular instance is a different level of disturbing.
Its crazy that I made a fool of a billion $ company that easily. Like I never thought this would work, I was just bored after getting my last ban LOL
— 𝔐𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔡 (@MasterWarlord01) March 15, 2024
FleeceKing’s account was not hacked in the traditional sense, and frustratingly for the streamer, Niantic actually aided the hacker unknowingly in achieving this. The hacker contacted Niantic to get their account unbanned and realised that they could get access to just about anyone’s account if they could provide enough “proof” to Niantic that they owned the account, and astonishingly, that’s what happened.
The hacker is X user (formerly Twitter) MasterWarlord01, who posted a clip of using FleeceKing’s account to delete a Shiny Mareep from his Pokemon collection. FleeceKing confirmed that his account got hacked as he took to X to write, “My account has been hacked. Deleting my Pokémon, bragging about it. No one has my account details, I don’t know how and why this has happened. I am at a complete loss for words and am completely shaken up and sad.”
“I’m an emotional wreck,” concluded FleeceKing.
After 24 hours, Niantic has recovered FleeceKing’s account, and it has been reported that the streamer received their deleted Pokemon as well. This is where the story also took a turn for Pokemon GO fans who are happy that FleeceKing got his account and Pokemon back but wondered why other users who have faced similar issues, did not receive their deleted Pokemon.
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After a very distressing 24 hours, I can now confirm Niantic helped me get my account back. I can’t get into all the details of my situation, but I’m happy with this outcome.I just want to express my deepest appreciation to everyone for reaching out with care, concern and…
— FleeceKing (@ItsFleeceKing) March 14, 2024
There’s certainly a debate about actions by the hacker, who is more of a troll, saying that they did it to prove a point. While the methods are unjustifiable, it does highlight the incompetence of Niantic’s security and support measures. The fact that a random player can contact Niantic and get access to the account of one of the most prominent streamers, does pose serious questions for Niantic to answer to its fans.
I don’t care the Fleece got his shundos back, but you all should notice that @NianticHelp has NEVER recovered transferred items/Pokemon for anyone before. They don’t care about you unless you are a sponsered creator🫠🙃#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/ARXgoElkiS
— 𝔐𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔡 (@MasterWarlord01) March 14, 2024
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