Did you offload an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 at Circuit City while the retailer was imploding? If you did, we hope you wiped your personal details from the machine. Because Circuit City didnât.
Having read our post on GameStopâs Texas refurbishment centre, we were contacted by a reader who works in a similar facility (though not one that services GameStop). And there, he claims, things were a little different.
https://lastchance.cc/this-is-where-gamestop-refurbishes-your-old-hardware-5191347%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Instead, not only does he allege that the majority of consoles broken (217 of 227 Xbox 360s were ânon-functioningâ, and 167 of 205 PS3s), but, more importantly, that a âlarge quantityâ of them came with something extra: sensitive personal information.
Friends lists. Photos. Videos. Sexy home videos. Arcade games. Credit card details.
The facility discovered this while repairing the damaged consoles. Theyâd fix them, turn them on, test their network connectivity, then suddenly start receiving friend requests, chat requests, game invites, etc. Whatâs more, with the user details still recorded on the system, they could have easily purchased game content on an unsuspecting former ownerâs credit card.
Itâs a massive compromise of personal information. And while, yes, in the first instance these people should have been more aware of their data, it was a dick move on Circuit Cityâs part to not erase the data before selling it on to a third party.
The lessons here? Donât trust big business to do something you should really do yourself! Especially when it involves your credit card details. And home videos of you riding the missus like a naughty donkey.
