Sony is reportedly investigating an apparent PS5 security issue as users report unauthorized "child family members" being added to their PSN accounts.
That's according to a machine-translated statement sent to The Sankei Shimbun, which notes that the child accounts in question have apparently been able to bypass both passwords and two-factor authentication, as reported by affected users.
Essentially, it seems, hackers have been able to set up a PlayStation Family on unsuspecting users' PSN accounts, adding themselves as a child family member. Depending on which parental controls are enabled, child accounts may be able to play games and, more concerningly, buy items from the PlayStation Store using linked payment methods. Users have also expressed concerns that hackers could see account information and personal details, such as their full names, through this method.
What's worse is that shutting this situation down once a child family member account has been added isn't exactly straightforward, which is almost certainly why hackers are posing as children even though I'd guess most of them probably aren't. As Sony details on its own family management help page, "child members cannot be removed from your family" – you can remove an adult family member, but a child account can't be turned into one unless they've been upgraded once eligible, based on their birth date. It's a frankly baffling restriction, and has caused problems for folks facing similar problems before this recent wave of issues.
Just take this Reddit post from three years ago documenting one user facing the exact same sort of problem: a mysterious child account making purchases with their credit card and being unable to remove them. They were able to change the hacker's account settings to prevent further purchases, but it's hardly an ideal solution.
For now, it seems that many Japanese users in particular are experiencing this, but the issue isn't Japan-exclusive. "I just woke up, and I had my email to my PSN account change from this stupid child family management exploit where unauthorized accounts are added to your family management where they can see your account information. FUCKING FIX IT," one affected user writes.
Another responds: "Dude i have the same thing on my account right now, it doesnt even let you remove them at all its actually fucked."
While Sony investigates, it's a good idea to remain vigilant about two-factor authentication, review your account to make sure there aren't any family members you didn't add yourself, and contact PlayStation Support to have them removed if necessary.
