Nintendo Switch, PayPal Hack: 160,000 Users Fall Into Huge Breach of Players' Details

Nintendo has confirmed a huge hack that allowed access to 160,000 people's bills on its online services.

Rumors of a hack had spread in recent days as gamers said suspicious logins and unauthorized purchases being made from their bank accounts.

Now the company has confirmed those bills were hacked, Nintendo's Japanese website said.

How did the hacking go?

Nintendo said that hackers have been capable of accessing online logins that have been made available elsewhere on the internet. The company gave no details of ways the details were stolen or how widely they had been used.

Nintendo showed that some users had used the logins for unlawful purchases in its stores. It asked users to report such incidents themselves, try to cancel the payments, and tell Nintendo about the incident. - Although the company warned, it might not be able to respond right away.

The hackers had been thieving Nintendo Network IDs - which are used as login usernames on the net service - and passwords, The Verge reported.

While those NNID accounts give access to a few personal data, including birthdate and email deal with, many people additionally use the same login on their Nintendo account. The details could be used in the Nintendo Store or its online eShop for games.

In response to the hack, Nintendo said it will take away those NNID logins, asking human beings to signal in using their email deal with instead.

Nintendo also said that it had reset people's account passwords and that they will need to register a new one. It asked people not to apply the same password as on any other site.

Reports earlier this week said some accounts have been breached, and those had been the used to shop for digital gadgets like bundles of Fortnite VBucks.

Nintendo did not give an explanation for how the hack was possible. However, it insisted that it had not anything to do with a breach in databases or servers. The organization declined to divulge more information in worry that it'd encourage more unauthorized logins.

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and concern to our customers and related parties," it said in the post, which appeared in Japanese. "In the future, we will make further efforts to strengthen security and ensure safety so that similar events do not occur."

Hacking incident drew flak online

Nintendo users took to social media to whinge that hackers were accessing their Nintendo accounts after it 'automatically' bought Fortnite currency and other Nintendo games.

One Twitter netizen said he was on his way home from work, and during the drive home, his Nintendo account was hacked and spent 300 dollars on Fortnite.

Another Twitter netizen was #shookt after a hacker hacked the user's PayPal account and spent $200 on Nintendo games.

CNET's employee, Sean Buckly, expressed his frustration on his Twitter account over the hacking incident. He said the hacker charged $99 to his PayPal account to buy V-Bucks for someone else's Fortnite account.