Hacked! Staff Responded in Less then 48 hours!!!!

[deadlypker]

I'd just make a new email, I had hotmail but soon I started to get so much spam I switched, I use yahoo now(which I reccomend). I've had my e-mail for well over, hmmm, 3 years I'd say, and not a single bit of spam. My spam block is even set on the lowest setting

[gabriellaeve]

YUP all changed!! (I'm not saying to what though LOL) I'm so happy I'm practically giddy!

[Morningstar]

:D EDIT A very nice staffer has now returned my account to me - The even better news is to the best of my knowledge everything is intact Thank You soooo much for everyone who helped or just wished me luck - it has been just over 25 hours since my account was taken, I just want people to know it is possible to get things back quickly if you are polite and persistant.

Oh, I am so happy for you!!!! A happy ending. You must be overjoyed with relief. And, see, everyone, the Neopets staff does work above and beyond to make things right.


And, excuse me, Gabriella, but I have something to say. This really put a bug up my butt:

If anything, you were scammed. D:

OK, Troggy, I am getting really tired of hearing this argument. You know, you were scammed, not hacked. And I would just like to say this: What the hell difference does it make whether she was hacked, cracked, or scammed? The result is the same. Someone illegally accessed her account and devastated her. So, maybe instead of saying something like that the next time someone comes on PPT pouring their heart out, you might just want to offer support. Instead of criticism which then makes the user feel like it was their fault. This wasn't her fault. It was the fault of the hacker/scammer/cracker/jerk who did this to her. And, you really need to remember that.

OK, back to Gabriella. Sorry about that, hon. It just came out of my mouth. I am really glad to know that your account is OK.

[gabriellaeve]

Thanks Morningstar - By the By I happen to agree with you about the "it doesn't matter" whether I was scammed

For everyone's reference I was not "scammed" at least not by any scam I've ever heard of.

I don't talk to other people, I don't visit neo websites (other then this one) I hadn't even logged on to my account for several days (my home account stays logged in)

What I believe might have happened (although I'm still working out how) is that someone logged onto my work computer overnight. This theory has holes in it, but given that there were several (more then 5) neo users in my cache at work I think its the one that holds the most water.

I mention this not to defend myself but because I, like many of you, have been lax in my password changing and other securty measures. I saw other people lose there accounts and I assumed that they must have done something like fallen for a scam. Please rest assured that if it could happen to me it could happen to you. If you have a hotmail account, please consider changing to something else - if you need a gmail invite PM me, I'll be happy to send one to you. Please do not have your email address be the same as your neo login and make sure if your neo name is the same here as it is on the site that you have different passwords.

Obviously if someone is going to truely "hack" your account there is not much you can do, but as many have pointed out it is much more likely that I was "cracked" and the above measures can greatly reduce the likelyhood of that. /PSA

Thanks once again to everyone who was so supportive, being an adult IRL made this kind of hard to go thru because I couldn't really tell anyone (believe me, they mock my playing enough)- even my husbands sympathy was limited, so it was nice to have some people to talk to.

[Morningstar]

Thanks once again to everyone who was so supportive, being an adult IRL made this kind of hard to go thru because I couldn't really tell anyone (believe me, they mock my playing enough)- even my husbands sympathy was limited, so it was nice to have some people to talk to.

I know exactly what you mean, sweetie. Eyes would roll if I told anyone in this town of mine that I played Neopets. Nice to have the support that we have here.

And, one more thing about keeping your account safe. I have had lost password requests show up in my email in box on more than one occasion.

Some things I have learned:

1. Use symbols in addition to numbers and letters in your password. For both neo and your email account. Put the symbols at the beginning and end of the password.

2. If you are using hotmail as your neo email address, don't use the same email address for msn instant messaging. And, don't post it here on PPT in your user lookup. Because anybody can come on this site and lurk about. If someone wants to IM you, they can always send you a PM asking you for it.

3. If your email address is a variation of your real name, don't post your real name in your user lookup. If your user name contains your name or part of your name, make sure your email address has nothing to do with your name.

4. If you have a secret question for your email account, make the answer something completely unrelated to the question. For instance. If the question is "What is your favorite ice cream?" Don't put "chocolate." But put the name of your old college roomate or an old address. So, that way, if someone is attempting to dig information out of you, like your pet's name, etc., learning that info won't help them get into your email account.

5. Take screenshots of your pets, of your SDB, of your neofriends list, and stick them somewhere. That way, if your account is ever compromised, you have info about your account readily available. Instead of scratching your head, trying to remember what exactly you had. Particularly if you have multiple accounts.

Last edited by Morningstar on Thu Oct 20, 2005 2:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

[gabriellaeve]

Morningstar - that advice about screenshots is SO important - they ask things like what stocks do you have, who are your neofriends, what trades have you done.

I was just sitting there going _duuuur I dunno_ about 80% of the info, its just not stuff I really keep up with you know? LOL

[luv2lindy77]

Morningstar - that advice about screenshots is SO important - they ask things like what stocks do you have, who are your neofriends, what trades have you done.

I was just sitting there going _duuuur I dunno_ about 80% of the info, its just not stuff I really keep up with you know? LOL

I know! I've seen the form. It's very detailed. I mean, that's good, but how many of us can answer that many of the questions? A periodic inventory is good.

Also, just in case it wasn't someone using your work PC, you might want to update your virus definitions and run AdAware or Search & Destroy other spyware/malware/adware detectors to make sure there's no keyloggers/trojans on your machines. Those things DO happen. Some WoWers had their accounts broken into because of that sort of thing.

Glad to hear you got your account back AND intact! ^_^

[Shoyru_Lover]

Morningstar - that advice about screenshots is SO important - they ask things like what stocks do you have, who are your neofriends, what trades have you done.

I was just sitting there going _duuuur I dunno_ about 80% of the info, its just not stuff I really keep up with you know? LOL

Ohhh definitely interesting. Thanks for that. I'll write up an article about your experiences so the general populace can know