As if there wasn't enough nefarious activity surrounding online game services in recent days, Microsoft has now alerted "Modern Warfare 2" players to a potential phishing scheme. It's unclear whether anyone has actually been affected by this latest attempt to steal gamers' personal information, or if Microsoft is just preemptively trying to avoid a PlayStation Network grade catastrophe.
"Users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing 'Modern Warfare 2,'" reads the statement on Xbox Live's status page. "We are aware of the problem and are working to resolve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience."
This alert comes on the heels of Sony's own security breach disaster, which has left the PlayStation Network service down for over a week, and left many PlayStation gamers wondering if their credit card data was compromised. The phishing scheme doesn't appear to be anywhere near the magnitude of problems associated with the Sony debacle, but it does seem as though Microsoft is taking a more proactive approach to the matter.
As reported by GameSpot, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling appears to have responded to the alleged issue via Twitter, stating, "We have a patch in the process of testing for release that should be out soon to address."
I feel pretty confident that this is just a matter of Microsoft covering their their bases, but I can't help but feel a sense of dread that we haven't seen the last of these problems. Of course, it seems fairly simple to protect yourself from this latest scheme. If you're crazy enough to give out your personal information to random people in a "Modern Warfare 2" match, you may want to reconsider using the internet at all.