The cheapest way to protect your gaming account

Most stolen gaming accounts are not lost to sophisticated attacks. They go because a password leaked on some other site was reused here, or because the recovery email was forgotten years ago. The five measures below take ten minutes and cut out most of the risk. 1. Turn on two-factor authentication On its own this is the single most effective step. Even if your password leaks, signing in still needs the code on your phone. An authenticator app (Google Authenticator, for example) is safer than SMS; SIM-swap attacks can get past SMS. 2. Use a different password everywhere If you reuse one password in two places, your security is only as good as the weakest of those sites. A password manager solves this completely, and there are free ones. 3. Keep your recovery email current The recovery email is usually the only way back into a locked account. If the address there is one you no longer use, you have no way back. 4. Store your backup codes Most services hand you backup codes when you enable two-factor authentication. When you lose your phone, those codes are the only thing that still gets you in. Keep them somewhere other than a screenshot on that same phone. 5. Sign out old sessions regularly If you signed in on a shared computer or on a friend's console, that session stays open and gets forgotten. Most platforms have a "sign out of all devices" option — use it now and then. One more thing Never give a verification code to anyone who asks for it "to verify your account". No platform and no support team will ever ask you for a verification code. Anyone asking for it is trying to complete a verification in your name.