You May Want To Set Up Two-Step Verification For Your Nintendo Account; Here’s How

Nintendo Switch users have recently reported unauthorized third-party logins on their Nintendo accounts according to Nintendo Life.

Some Twitter feeds have mentioned account hackings which happened several times overnight.

I suspect Nintendo may have had a major security breach. My account was accessed numerous times overnight.

My password is a unique string and my PC is definitely clean (not that I ever login via it).

Lots of similar reports on Reddit/twitter.

Unlink PayPal & enable 2FA folks!

— Pixelpar (@pixelpar) April 19, 2020

To all my Nintendo Switch owning friends, my Nintendo Account was hacked this morning and they made off with $100 for Fortnite crap. So I'm about to tell you what to do to stop it from happening to you, and what to do if it does.

— Terran Sherwood (@TerranSherwood) April 4, 2020

Because of this, Nintendo has been running a social media campaign to promote 2-Step Verification. The company also issued a warning that user inquiries related to credit card fraud has been increasing in Japan as of late.

Just to be safe, you should do it too if you don’t want your Nintendo account to get hacked.

How To Set Up 2-Step Verification On Your Nintendo Switch Account

1. Go to the Nintendo Account website and sign in to your Nintendo Account.
2. Select Sign-in and security settings, then scroll down to 2-Step Verification and click Edit.
3. Click 2-Step Verification settings.
4. Click Send email to have a verification code sent to the email address on file.
   • If the email address is incorrect, click the Email address menu setting under User Info to change it.
5. Enter the verification code from the email, then Submit.
6. Install the Google Authenticator app on your smart device.
   • This is a free app, available through Google Play (Android) and the App Store (iOS).
7. Use the smart device app to scan the QR code displayed on your Nintendo Account screen.
8. A 6-digit verification code will appear on your smart device. Enter the verification code into the field under step 3 on the Nintendo Account screen, then Submit.
9. A list of backup codes will appear. Click Copy to copy all the codes, then paste them somewhere safe.
   • A backup code will be required to log in if you don’t have access to the Google Authenticator app. MAKE SURE TO KEEP THESE SOMEWHERE SAFE.
   • You can use these (one time each) if you do not have access to the Google Authenticator app.
10. Click I have saved the backup codes, then OK.
    • Once set, you can return to the 2-step verification settings section to review the backup codes and remove the 2-step restriction.