Reports began coming in on Thursday that Sony was sending out e-mails to PlayStation users requiring them to change their passwords after noticing "irregular activity" on several PlayStation network accounts.

IGN initially reported the news, which prompted many to contact the website to report their individual claims that their accounts had been hacked and unverified purchases were made on the credit cards linked to those accounts. One users said his account was used to add $150 to his PlayStation Store wallet while another person found a few purchases related to FIFA 14.

"Just last night, at about 1:10 AM, I received an email saying $50 was added to my wallet," Marcus Elyiace told IGN via email. "No more than 15 seconds later, I receive another email saying the same thing. I immediately login to my account [...] but by the time I did that, another $50 dollars was taken from my card."

Another PSN user named Bobby Atkins, says funds were also added to his Store wallet, which were then used to purchase FIFA 14 related content.

Elyiace contacted Sony customer service and reported that a Sony rep said all the charges would be refunded within five to seven days and stressed the importance of making sure that passwords are not something that you use on other places around the Internet.

Downloading content to another person's account to the hacker's PlayStation device may seem like a fruitless effort but, theoretically, the person in control of the account could designate their PlaySation device as the "primary" console, then proceed to download the content. When the victim resets their passwords, the access would then be revoked. However, assuming the game in question doesn't require DRM verification, or if the unverified PlaStation is kept offline, they could possibly still use the content for the game.

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