Dominik “Schwenker1991” Schwenk is a professional eSports player in the FIFA 18 Ultimate Team mode. Last week, his FUT account became the victim of a hacking attack – all his players were gone.
For “normal” FIFA players, it is extremely annoying, for FIFA professionals, the worst-case scenario: their Ultimate Team gets hacked. All the hard-earned players and coins are lost. On the evening of February 10, this happened to Dominik “Schwenker1991” Schwenk from the eSports team “Origin of Power”:
Schwenk finds an empty club
On social networks, Schwenk announced that he could no longer log into FIFA Ultimate Team. He immediately called EA support to regain access to his club. However, it had already been completely emptied. In an interview with Sport1, he explained:
“I got my account back because EA didn’t even suspend it. But when I logged in with the console normally, all my players were gone. Also, my Team of the Week items from my top 100 placements”
Despite having implemented appropriate security measures, Schwenk had previously fallen victim to a hacking attack in March of last year. However, even SMS verification did not deter the unknown hacker(s).
Player cards have been refunded
On February 17, “Schwenker1991” announced that EA Sports responded and returned most of his stolen club to him.
According to Gamestar, he also received compensation within a month in 2017.
However, Schwenk still comes out of the attack damaged: Due to the hack over the weekend, the FIFA eWorld Cup qualification is over for him. To participate, it is necessary to perform well in all four Weekend League tournaments in February.
Hacking attacks on eSports players are increasing
Dominik Schwenk is not the first FIFA professional whose FUT club has been hacked. Prior to this, major names like “Tim Latka” Schwartmann, “DrErhano” Kayman, or Cihan Yasarlar have already been affected.
EA responded accordingly. Tim Latka received his players and coins back like Schwenker. DrErhano received compensation for his stolen club content in FUT currency in January 2018: he found 23 million coins back on his Ultimate Team account, which was even enough for a better team than he previously owned.
Will every hacked player be compensated?
Famous eSports players have an advantage over “normal” gamers when they get hacked and demand compensation: their reach. This allows them to put pressure on EA Sports and bring about a timely and appropriate compensation.
Schwenk also called on his followers and pro colleagues to retweet and spread awareness after the hack. Because only when EA becomes aware can one expect compensation.
On platforms like reddit, many FIFA players report their losses from hacks. The experiences vary.
“The same happened to me, I lost around 300k, got banned for coin transfer, and EA did nothing,” writes a user who had less luck. Other players, however, have received their coins back immediately after simple contact with EA support.
To start earning many coins, we recommend learning the basics of trading.
