Fantasy Premier League has issued a security update after some managers reported that their accounts had been hacked and their teams deleted.
FPL has said in a statement that it believes that the security breach has arisen from users sharing their details on third-party websites, rather than on its own website or app.
A statement from the company read: “We are aware of a small number of FPL managers reporting that their team has either been deleted or compromised in some way.
“There is no indication or evidence of a security breach on the accounts of these individuals via fantasy.premierleague.com or the Premier League mobile app.
“We would like to take this opportunity, however, to remind all FPL managers that sharing your FPL login credentials — email address and/or password — with third-party websites or applications puts the security of your FPL team at risk.”
FPL is currently in its seventh gameweek and has over eight million players worldwide, all competing for a series of weekly, monthly, and end of season prizes.
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What are third-party websites?
These security breaches are believed to have arisen as a result of players using third-party websites.
This is where players pass over their log-in details in order to receive advice on game strategy, such as making transfers, playing captains, or navigating the upcoming fixture schedule.
FPL rules currently prohibit the practice.
However, numerous fans on social media have called on FPL to also improve its own security measures, such as introducing two-factor authentication.
Have there been security breaches before?
Yes, back in the 2019-20 season. At the start of the campaign, in September, several fantasy Premier League teams were hacked by what FPL called “a malicious third party”. Those sides were later reinstated.
FPL again blamed that breach on third parties, rather than any security defect within its own system.
What other issues have FPL faced?
Last season, The Athletic revealed that FPL was rife with racist and homophobic team names.
A professor of analytics who analysed the data for The Athletic estimated that as many as one in a 1000 team names were potentially offensive.
These names are against the game’s rules but still make it through the filters.
In 2019-20, the competition’s overall winner, Aleksandar Antonov, was suddenly stripped of his title. According to the Daily Mail, this was because Antonov made racist comments about Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling in a private Facebook chat. The prize was passed on to Joshua Bull, who originally came second.
(Photo: Fantasy Premier League)
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