After months of complaints from Xbox 360 owners claiming their Xbox Live accounts are being hacked, Microsoft has (finally) decided to investigate the problem. Gamers were outraged at the discovery that not only had their Xbox Live accounts been hijacked, but also that the credit cards details within had then been used fraudulently to buy extra points for use on the service.

There are various versions of the same story presently circulating, but one of the main themes seems to be that of 'social engineering' whereby devious souls simply call Microsoft's support line to claim - for whatever reason - that they need their account details changing. The behaviour, widely known as 'pretexting' after a similar stunt was used in a case involving computer company Hewlett-Packard, seems worryingly easy to pull off in the Xbox 360 cases documented.

Other reports suggest the culprits are taking a more social approach, engaging users in social Live banter in order to gain information about their victim that will aid their subsequent impersonation. Other more complicated techniques reported include gamers' details being snatched as they travel across a LAN at a gathering of Xbox players or infiltrating certain areas of Xbox Live to gain access to players' personal information.

"Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox Live network," a Microsoft representative said. "Security is a top priority for Xbox Live, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behaviour and theft."