I don't know if this site is legit, I signed up for it and had to enter Windows LIVE ID and Password. It sent a message to all my friends saying http://www.playfire.com/xbox/{their gamertag here}. I wouldn't trust this site. I went and changed my Password already. Just a little warning to people.

Why do people think that the sPlayfire is a scam? it is pretty clear that the site is legit, I'm a member, I have nothing wrong and it's also has pretty neat community, I wonder why others are speaking of this..

if you give your windows live id and password to a non-microsoft site you are basically asking for trouble.

you are giving a website instant access to your account anytime they want.

whether they seem legit or not ,their site may not be secure and your details will be up for grabs to anyone.

And however who rated my post a 1 star, my answer was pretty serious, I just messed up a bit typing fast. Playfire is a safe site.

Stop 5 staring your own post Crazy... Seriously, just accept the fact that people dislike your post. You don't see me 5 staring my own post.

They're part of the community developer program, so they are legit and won't steal your information, but they do that automatic message thing. It's a legitimate community website and they claim they don't save your details.

Read this thread from it's own forum for example: forums.playfire.com/.../102622

When you sign up it asks if you wish to send messages to friends. It seems most people are too lazy to click the box that says "no".

I'm not sure if it is playfire (only heard of them recently with the scam business, to be honest) or a decoy site posing as playfire for info. but it sounds like there is a scam going on where they pose as playfire for your info.

i recently got a message from one of my friends saying to join up with an added link. this message has an automated feel about it and if any site was using their gamertag and info to send auto messages, then it isnt cool. whoever is doing this, it does sound very "legit" if the site is using people's gamertags to foward messages for any reason. Maybe, Crazy, thats why people are rising the issue?

www.xbox.com/.../Stolen-Account

Playfire:

What is Playfire?

It's a social network where Xbox Live, PSN and PC gamers can track their stats and show them off on a cool profile, follow what their friends are playing, and talk about all the latest games.

Sounds cool. Are you guys legit?

Yes! We're a real company with real offices in London, UK. We've raised over $3m in investment from some successful entrepreneurs like the founders of Skype and EA. We're an official Xbox Community Developer and Playfire is used by over 450,000 gamers already.

Nice. So why do I need to log into my Xbox Live?

Clearly you're a popular person, as some of your friends created you a profile on Playfire so you'd join up!

Playfire only works if you have friends on it, so they invited you to the join the service.

You need to log in to verify you're actually the gamertag you say you are before you can claim the profile. Otherwise anybody could claim anyone else's profile.

What do you do with my login details?

We confirm you are the right person, and then throw them away! We don't store them ever. Not even your email address. Nothing is ever saved.

In fact, we never even see your password as it's fully encyrpted the whole time. So your details are completely secure.

Hmm. I'm still unsure.

We completely understand. It's healthy to have a certain level of skepticism online. To reassure you, though, Playfire is totally legit - we're a proper company with real offices in London, we're partnered with the great guys at Xbox through the Xbox Community Developer Program and know them in real life, and just want to make it easy for you to connect with your friends. Nothing is ever saved and the whole process is totally secure.

If you're still uneasy, you can email us on team@playfire.com or call us on (UK) 020 7183 8689 or (US) 415-513-0781 with any questions you have. We'd love to hear from you! (For extra bonus points, include any feature ideas you have to improve the site!)

Battlefield 3 is better than Modern Warfare 3

That's not a question.

I have other real questions!

That's not a question either. However, I know what you're getting at. I'm going to repeat what I put at the end of the last questions:

You can email us on team@playfire.com or call us on (UK) 020 7183 8689 or (US) 415-513-0781 with any questions you have. We'd love to hear from you! (For extra bonus points, include any feature ideas you have to improve the site!)

Straight from the site.

CrazyMvM94:

Why do people think that the Playfire is a scam? it is pretty clear that the site is legit, I'm a member, I have nothing wrong and it's also has pretty neat community, I wonder why others are speaking of this..

<sigh> I hate to do it, but I agree with Maurice. It is in fact pretty obvious that playfire is legit. It's also the most basic level of common sense to find out if something actually is a scam, before you start crying scam. Making such a claim about a long standing and reputable site just makes you look foolish.

Smooth talkers.  Still require to much personal info. Might aswell give them your bank card pin #, since they dont even look at what you are sending them and they just throw it out.

I'm out.

microsofts safety advice is very clear,do not under any circumstances share your windows live id and passwords with anyone,they even state you should never tell any of their own staff your password on the phone or by email.

anyone that does this on any website, no matter what reputation they have, deserve everything they get.

CrumbyBracelet7:

microsofts safety advice is very clear,do not under any circumstances share your windows live id and passwords with anyone,they even state you should never tell any of their own staff your password on the phone or by email.

anyone that does this on any website, no matter what reputation they have, deserve everything they get.

There are several reputable websites that need that information because they link directly to and display your gamercard. You're expected to be intelligent enough to discern the difference between a legit site and scam. But if you are not intelligent enough then sure, quote Microsoft policies like a puppet.

its a policy for a reason,and very good advice too.

accepting good advice is not being a "puppet" it is being very discerning and intelligent.

They never asked me my window live ID/ Password. I heard they did that in the past and had problem with MS...but now seems "legit" IMO. Is like a FB gamers place . I'm still trying to close my account because my GS appears as Zero but idk how to do it. There is no option ATM.

It's auto spam message thing completely turned me off to them. Marketing fail.

CrumbyBracelet7:

its a policy for a reason,and very good advice too.

accepting good advice is not being a "puppet" it is being very discerning and intelligent.

Being unable to think for yourself is what makes you a puppet

That's a little strong even for you. I think in light of all the recent concerns about accounts being compromised and other security issues it's pretty smart to be very cautious.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being cautious with your information.  As for me I won't be using playfire.  I like what the xbox devs are coming up with:

http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/11/08/xbox-com-enhanced-new-social-amp-video-sections.aspx

UnyoBro:

That's a little strong even for you. I think in light of all the recent concerns about accounts being compromised and other security issues it's pretty smart to be very cautious.

Cautious? Absolutely. Never blindly hand out your information just because a log-in screen pops up on FreeMicrosoftPoints.com. You need to look in to it. If it's a site no one has ever heard of, looks thrown together in a few minutes, it has testimonials on the front page from "users" talking about how it changed their lives. Then laugh and see if it's possible to send a message telling the person what a fool he is. But if you can plainly see that it's a high traffic site that many of your friends use personally. It's obviously legit. 

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If you're really all gung ho about never giving out your information and using the utmost level of caution, then you shouldn't even be logging in to these forums. Microsoft will never ask for your log-in information? Then how did you log-in here? Any place on the net runs the risk of being hacked. And given the shoddy level of functionality of these forums, I can't imagine security is all that tight. I'd say we're more at risk of being hacked here than on Playfire.

Believe me it took some effort for me to even sign up for these forums I'm that cautious. What convinced me was that it's run by MS, if something goes wrong they can deal with it hopefully. If something goes wrong with a third party site I have no insurance against it.

I'm sure the site is fine and all, but that was after I did some looking into it first. It's just that they trip so many red flags during a first impression (plus that spam thing using your gamertag,) that prevents me from even wanting to go to their page again.

Also got one of those messages, when I checked it out it said <name> and 6 other friends invited you, or something along those lines. Then I checked out other gamertags and surprisingly, <other name> and 6 other friends invited them. Doesn't sound like a coincidence to me. This plus the fact that they're sending auto messages really turns me off on becoming a member.

UnyoBro:

Believe me it took some effort for me to even sign up for these forums I'm that cautious. What convinced me was that it's run by MS, if something goes wrong they can deal with it hopefully. If something goes wrong with a third party site I have no insurance against it.

People cry hack around here all the time. Sometimes they do something about it, sometimes they don't. A friend of mine claimed he was hacked. I know for a fact his gamertag was taken, though. We looked up the account from his console and it said he was playing Halo 3. He never even played Halo as he was only interested in sports and racing games. Microsoft gave him the run around. He never did get that tag back. Something about him buying a live card from Gamestop and not using a credit card which could be used to verify his information.

It's quite strange that I've on Playfire for 2 months already and never got spammed, hacked or anything. The site may track your hours of game data but still it's not a bad site!

I was just saying for everyone to be cautious about this site. Weather an Xbox Community Developer made it or not doesn't matter. Hackers can still get into your data. Until I see a high ranking Xbox Employee tell me this site is ok to be a part of, I am staying away from this site. Everyone can argue over "This is a legit site" or "This site will steal your data" but that won't change my decision. What's so great about this site anyways? All I see is what looks like an Amateur made site with no point.  

You don't get spammed. Your friends do. When you sign up, it sends a message to all your friends saying just this: http://www.playfire.com/xbox/{their gamertag here}. I don't know if that's the only message it sends but that was enough for me to not use that site.

The Playfire staff live in the UK, and they have their on place and offices there, I saw a video of that once from a public announcement, do you really think that these nice people, their site and it's community is a bad thing?

Don't blame anyone being cautious now-a-days. Esp. since Bioware got hacked recently and EA information was compromised leading to a few Xbox accounts sharing the same password being taken.

Sword StyIe:

UnyoBro:

Believe me it took some effort for me to even sign up for these forums I'm that cautious. What convinced me was that it's run by MS, if something goes wrong they can deal with it hopefully. If something goes wrong with a third party site I have no insurance against it.

People cry hack around here all the time. Sometimes they do something about it, sometimes they don't. A friend of mine claimed he was hacked. I know for a fact his gamertag was taken, though. We looked up the account from his console and it said he was playing Halo 3. He never even played Halo as he was only interested in sports and racing games. Microsoft gave him the run around. He never did get that tag back. Something about him buying a live card from Gamestop and not using a credit card which could be used to verify his information.

What's the point of that anecdote? Regardless of how some people may act it's still a good idea for most internet users to be extra cautious. Not everyone is savvy so it makes sense that in general people should be suspicious of any site that wants personal info, big name or not. The less you give the info out the less chance of something going wrong. Now to continue that line of thinking, if people are also unwilling to research a site to make sure it's legit it makes sense that they should just avoid it altogether to be safe.You can agree with that right?

UnyoBro:

What's the point of that anecdote? Regardless of how some people may act it's still a good idea for most internet users to be extra cautious. Not everyone is savvy so it makes sense that in general people should be suspicious of any site that wants personal info, big name or not. The less you give the info out the less chance of something going wrong. Now to continue that line of thinking, if people are also unwilling to research a site to make sure it's legit it makes sense that they should just avoid it altogether to be safe.You can agree with that right?

The point of that anecdote is your belief that if there's a problem On Microsoft's end, they'll handle it because they're responsible. That may be the case, and it may not be. Just to be sure, you should stop logging in to the forums if you really want to ensure your security. Besides, I've been agreeing the entire time that people need to use caution. And to be honest, I really couldn't care less what people do or don't do. There are 2 things I have taken issue with in this thread. One, a person calling attention to himself to claim a legit site is a scam. Simply avoiding it is one thing. Having people gather around for the purpose of making a bold, and incorrect declaration is something else entirely. And two, a person quoting the holy grail of Microsoft because Microsoft said so. That should speak for itself.

Your first issue seems invented in your head. The OP was just cautiously warning people about a site that is acting shady by spamming peoples friends list automatically. I don't see how he's calling attention to himself or why that would even matter. He also wasn't making a bold declaration about the site being a scam.

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The second one is really an overreaction. That was the point of why I made my last post, some people are better off just following the safe guidelines. If you wanna put your account info at risk with a third party site because you feel it's safe that's fine, but don't assume everyone should just because you do. What if there was a fake playfire site copying them to fish for info, you'd probably notice but a more amateur user wouldn't pick up on it. Know what I mean? No point in insulting people over it.

Sword StyIe:

CrumbyBracelet7:

microsofts safety advice is very clear,do not under any circumstances share your windows live id and passwords with anyone,they even state you should never tell any of their own staff your password on the phone or by email.

anyone that does this on any website, no matter what reputation they have, deserve everything they get.

There are several reputable websites that need that information because they link directly to and display your gamercard. You're expected to be intelligent enough to discern the difference between a legit site and scam. But if you are not intelligent enough then sure, quote Microsoft policies like a puppet.

I am not going to argue the legitimacy of Playfire, but I am going to criticize their methods of "verifying" your account.  There are much less intrusive methods of verifying you are who you say you are.  

Take the (now defunct) mygamercard.net.  They too were a "Microsoft Community Partner", but they NEVER asked you for your WLID.  Instead, they would verify your account by asking you to respond to a private forum message using the same account.  A much safer method IMO.

Now, your argument that it is a legitimate website, and they mean to do no ill-will to your account may be a valid one, but I am going to maintain my stance on not giving my WLID to anybody.  Not my family, not my friends, and certainly not to some website (any non-Microsoft owned website, even Facebook itself).

The main reason I would refuse to give them my WLID isn't because I'm afraid they might scam me, because I don't think they will.  It's because I don't know how secure they keep their info, and if they become a target of an external intrusion from someone wanting to access that account info that is something I have no control over, and I should always have that control over my information.

UnyoBro:

Your first issue seems invented in your head. The OP was just cautiously warning people about a site that is acting shady by spamming peoples friends list automatically. I don't see how he's calling attention to himself or why that would even matter. He also wasn't making a bold declaration about the site being a scam.

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The second one is really an overreaction. That was the point of why I made my last post, some people are better off just following the safe guidelines. If you wanna put your account info at risk with a third party site because you feel it's safe that's fine, but don't assume everyone should just because you do. What if there was a fake playfire site copying them to fish for info, you'd probably notice but a more amateur user wouldn't pick up on it. Know what I mean? No point in insulting people over it.

Wow, what is going on here today? Am I typing in Russian? Is it actually troll Sword day and everyone is in on it? "don't assume everyone should just because I do". How many times in this very f'ing thread do I need to say that people should be cautious, and I don't care what people do? Seriously, I don't get it. Should I type in caps? Should I use colorful letters? Please tell me what I need to do to make people stop picking and choosing which parts of my posts to respond to, and which parts to pretend were never said?

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The very act of making a thread, is calling attention to yourself. You want people to read it, right? You don't want them to pass it by, right? Or are you hoping that people read the post, while covering up the left side of the screen with their hand so they can't see who you are? I made a Playfire account the other day at the request of a trusted and knowledgeable friend, not knowing that it would spam my friends list. And I agree, that would seem shady. I got at least 30 messages from 30 people wanting to know if I had been hacked, or if it was legit. That is the common sense response to such a thing

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Posting a warning is a declaration whether it was intended or not. You are declaring that people be wary of a specific site even though you have no information on it. And following guidelines is one thing. But people need to think for themselves. If they don't want to, that's their prerogative. It's my prerogative to think less of them because of it. And I'm not going to debate playfires methods. Because honestly there are better ways of doing things. I'm not suggesting, let alone demanding that anyone use their site. Why? Because I don't care.

I've had a Playfire account for a while now. It's a legit and safe site.

If it's not asking your Windows LIVE ID for the sign up then the risk is very low.  However, as i try to tell people many times over, you must, must, must insure that when you join external sites linked in any way to Xbox LIVE, that you DO NOT under any circumstances use the same email address and password combination that you use for LIVE.

Even if these sites are legit, there is no way of knowing how secure they are.  With all this website hacking going on, if you use the same email and password for every site you sign up for, you put yourselves in serious danger of identity theft and fraud.  Yes, I know it's pretty obvious, but many people use the same email address and password for every single site they use, and they shouldn't.

If these sites are attacked, and users credentials are stolen, the hackers generally try every other popular website and service on the Internet with the stolen user names and passwords and see if they can log in.  If you have seperate log in's, the risk to you is dramaticaly reduced.   It's like having a huge house with many locked doors, but the same key to open them all.  If you have the main key, everything is fair game.