Abdul Hakam, known in the gaming community as Hakoom, is a veteran gamer who holds five Guinness World Records for the highest Trophy score on the PlayStation Network (PSN). Recently, he announced his exit from the PlayStation community after nearly 20 years due to serious allegations regarding data security and internal misconduct within Sony.
The controversy began on September 9, 2024, when Hakoom found himself unable to access his PSN account. After several days of waiting and contacting customer support, he learned that his account had been compromised. A stranger’s WhatsApp message revealed that some internal Sony employees were allegedly bribed to sell rare accounts or lock them for profit.
To substantiate his claims, Hakoom presented evidence to Sony, including screenshots from the PSN admin interface, which is closely guarded and only accessible to internal employees. He also recorded phone calls from individuals posing as Sony employees, attempting to gather his personal information. Despite submitting this evidence, Hakoom received a message stating that his account was locked for violating the terms of service.
Sony accused him of using the “auto-pop” feature inappropriately to achieve the Platinum trophy in an unreasonable timeframe, allegedly logging into over 2,000 different accounts and using his account on 29 PlayStation devices. Hakoom defended the use of the “auto-pop” feature, explaining that it is an official PlayStation tool designed to streamline the trophy acquisition process when transitioning between PS4 and PS5 versions of games. He also pointed out that there have been short games available on PSN for a long time, legally allowing players to complete them quickly.
Although Hakoom’s account was eventually restored after 45 days, Sony removed him from its partner program. Disillusioned by the company’s handling of the situation, he chose to publicly share his experience to alert other users about potential vulnerabilities in account security. Discussions on Telegram groups indicate the presence of rare PSN accounts being sold openly, with some comments mocking Hakoom as a victim of this troubling trend.
The incident has drawn significant attention from the gaming community across various platforms, especially Reddit. Many users expressed support for Hakoom, emphasizing the importance of user data security. One Redditor commented, “Sony needs to focus on the real issue, which is the safety of user data, instead of blaming Hakoom. This shows that all of our data is at risk of being exposed.”
Criticism has also been directed at Sony regarding its inconsistent enforcement of policies and its handling of user accounts. Some users noted a decline in customer service quality, highlighting unreasonable penalties without clear explanations. Furthermore, the situation raises concerns about potential internal corruption, with accusations of Sony employees selling user data surfacing.
As of now, Sony has not officially addressed the allegations concerning its internal operations. In the meantime, the PlayStation user community is encouraged to take precautionary measures, such as enabling two-factor authentication, avoiding linking financial information to accounts, and keeping an eye out for any unusual activities to safeguard against data breaches.