Hello there. You’re probably reading this for one of three main reasons – you got scammed and you are angrier than a grizzly bear being hit in the face with various cream pies, you’re hoping not to get scammed and wish to educate yourself in one way or another, or you got here by accident.
I’m not here to bore you with repetitive information already written about ten times each on other PPT – Scammed Help articles. Because the world of Neopets is changing ever so rapidly (my experience being almost three years), it’s easy to say the same is going on inside the minds of hackers. They’re people too, just like you or I (uh- unless you’re a family pet who has somehow managed to learn how to read English as well as surf the Internet…), and though we may dislike the way they throw our countless hours upon hours of scrimping and saving NP’s, there’s really no avoiding any chance that you may become a victim.
Here to sort of Hacking Myth & Fact, here are some basic things that will help you along your Neopets journey.
MYTH: “Hacking only happens to newbies! It won’t happen to me!”
FACT: As you may or may not already know, this is completely false! I will send you precaution- often times the overconfident lack carefulness. “Hacking” (in other words, password-slipping or otherwise) seems to be unavoidable. Unless that is, you shut yourself off from the rest of the Neopian world, missing out from the fun of shops, message boards, and guilds. Eighty percent of the time, it is not newbies who spent hours at a time trying to find under priced codestones, map pieces, dubloons, or battle weaponry- it’s the players who have been on for more time than they would like to have become lost from a stranger. Regarding the fake shop items that lead to fake log-in pages, always check what your Internet Explorer shows on the bottom left-hand corner (usually) for the address when you place your mouse over the item you wish to buy. If it says anything OTHER than “http://www.neopets.com/buy_item.phtml?…”, then there may be reason for suspicion. Don’t click, and report the shop. It’s as simple as that!
MYTH: “All hackers are stupid and clumsy- they can’t even spell correctly!”
FACT: Shop-item hacking seems to be one of the most common scamming one can perform, but this is only one race of hackers. “Bad spelling” does not mean that a hacker has no way of getting into your account. As another article said, spelling things wrong and with abbreviations could easily be a simple disguise to dissolve suspicions. Reading a message that seems too good to be true (which in most cases means that it isn’t true) on the Neopets message boards that sounds like, “PLZ VIST MY SHOP I HAV MAP PEECES 4 ONLY 3000 NP!” is not nearly as intimidating as, “VISIT MY SHOP- WE JUST RESTOCKED WITH TWELVE MAP PIECES FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NP UNDERNEATH SHOP-WIZARD PRICES! HURRY!” Also, underrating hackers who speak to you in Internet lingo and misspelled words will make you feel overconfident that you are talking with a child who, in no way possible, could get your password, right? Wrong- maybe this hacker is, while you’re “having fun with them” by starting a long conversation to later report to Neopets or even PPT, already in your account from ways that you would have never thought this “stupid idiot” could have come up with, and is taking your NP, pets, and items! There’s no way to be sure. Unless you feel you have nothing to lose whatsoever, don’t think that all hackers really spell things the way you picture them. Instead, if you encounter something in the slightest suspicious, report them to Neopets without any chit-chat.
MYTH: “Hackers only use new accounts! Accounts with seven months or more are legitimate and friendly!”
FACT: I cannot emphasize how big of a predicament this could cause you! Of course most hackers will know that one or two day accounts already boasting 1,000 NP codestones or faeries will cause great suspicion, and therefore instant reporting. You would never suspect an account of one and a half year, plus four wholesome, happy pets, a shop, and perhaps a NeoHome to be a hacker’s, would you? This is one big mistake! After hackers have gotten into a person’s account- let’s say, this high quality one, they could easily use it as another scam account! They could change the shop so that all the items lead to fake log-in pages, or easily Neomail you, saying that they’ve discovered a great secret on Neopets, but they need your information. I’m sure anyone would be quick to trust this account- I mean, how could it be bad? Again, this could EASILY be a recently hacked-into account, which is now under the control of the scammer! In Neopia, where conversation consists of typing to messages seen on a computer screen, it’s best not to trust ANYONE BUT YOURSELF, not even people in your guild! You never know whose account could be invaded and taken over. A smart hacker could easily play the role of a guild leader after hacking into the leader’s account, only leaving after rich guild members’ NP have been transferred to their own account
MYTH: “I won’t be hacked into if I play around with fake log-in pages.”
FACT: Sure, you may think it’s just “a bit of fun” to type in threatening swear words and messages like “diehackerihateyouihopeyoueatdung” or “YouWillNeverScamME,Hacker” into fake log-in pages once you laugh at the “stupidity” of the person who created the page. “I’ve seen every scam in the book, hacker,” you might think to yourself. “You’ll never get this sly one’s account! Ha!” Just because you didn’t enter your password or username into the fake log-in page doesn’t mean a hacker (who is familiar with HTML, IP addresses [which is sort of like your computer’s identity], or other computer technicalities) can’t find you! If they are a genius at HTML and have hacked every wealthy guild leader they find, who says they can’t easily receive your IP address? You might not know this, but MANY Internet hosts reveal IP addresses of the people who have visited a certain page. Also, hit counters are also capable of performing this task. What if by accident, when trying to find something you read a few pages back, land on the fake log-in page and think it’s real? If you do find a fake log-in page, the best thing to do is just leave it alone and report the shop, or just get away from the page! Don’t feel guilty that you didn’t press a few of the hacker’s buttons- it’s likely that many other Neopets players have already reported the shop and page!
MYTH: “If I have Neofriends, a hacker will be intimidated and fly away magically!”
FACT: If you haven’t sensed my heavy sarcasm in the above row, then I’ll put it simply for you- Having Neofriends will not help you in any case when trying to preserve your account! As you might know, Neopets recently made it possible for you to send items to ANYONE, just so long as you have at least ONE Neofriend. You can chose the option of entering the username in a box, meaning the item gets sent to that person! They don’t even have to request you to be their Neofriend! What an obvious give-away that would be! You’d know the person’s username, therefore making it easier to pinpoint the wrong-doer. Unfortunately, if a hacker has been in the “business” (of hacking) for quite a while, they will know this. If you’ve got a few Neofriends from guilds, the message boards, or your shop, well guess what? You just lost all chances for saving your items the easiest way they could be transferred to the hacker’s main account! If you don’t mind not having a list of Neofriends, then delete them all. Even the ones who are still waiting for an answer on whether you accept them as Neofriends. (Otherwise, they automatically become that ONE Neofriend- the key to a hacker’s smooth escape.) If you still don’t understand, I suggest reading the paragraph again.
MYTH: “Having the same password for various accounts is a good idea.”
FACT: Wrong- BAD IDEA! Very bad idea! Say you have two accounts- one for normal transactions and game playing, the other for your guild membership and object safekeeping. If the hacker your facing sees that your Neofriend list has an account that looks awfully similar to your current one (for example, “neopets_player_adam” and then “neopets_player_adam_guild”), or shares a similar numerical pattern as your current account, there’s a good chance that if you placed the accounts under the same password, they will get in. That’s killing two birds with one stone, the unjust way. If you’re not the best at remembering passwords, write it down on a piece of paper along with the username it goes with, and put it where you’ll FIND IT. For example, your computer screen (only IF you have an isolated computer with no pesky siblings), your calendar under the box of your birthday date, a drawer in your room, or underneath a stuffed animal whose place you don’t move often. That’s the best way to remember several accounts’ password. Also, it’s a good tip to use both letters AND numbers in your password, therefore making it harder for a scammer to randomly type in a word which just so happens to be that magical password!
MYTH: “After being hacked into, I can message my old account with threats and swear words to the hacker and get my account back.”
FACT: After realizing that your greatly treasured account, which you have spent hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of hours upon, has been stolen from you, your initial reaction and resolution may be to Neomail your old account from a friend’s account with things like, “DIE DIE DIE HACKER GIVE IT BACK NOW OR I’LL KILL YOU!!” or have the entire beginning consisting of all the swearwords you know of, but chances are, if this hacker is experienced, he or she knows that they could easily shrug off your words, having taken hundreds of Neopets-famous accounts, this person doesn’t really care how you’ll “crush their bones into a trillion zillion pieces!” Though we can’t be sure what kind of a hacker you are dealing with, we can be sure of one thing- Hackers are people too, and they do have a mind and heart, just like everyone else. Seeing they might laugh off your threats, perhaps you might want to try writing a letter to them that actually has MEANING! Not that your threat letter doesn’t have meaning (it means anger, that is), but in their minds, they could be thinking, “Why should I give this account back? They’re attempting to get it back by threats- yeah right, they’re probably some spoiled brat who usually gets everything their way at home! Why should I listen to them?” After reading one account on PPT of a hacker who actually GAVE AN ACCOUNT BACK, UNTOUCHED, after they ASKED POLITELY! Do you think the polite Neomail consisted of two dozen threats? No- this Neomail was a truly heartfelt one of someone who had spent every spare minute off of a busy school schedule and hectic life on Neopets, but saw their cherished pets and hard-earned NP’s disappear! Might a hacker actually see this one-in-a-million letter and give it back? It’s hard to know, but again, hackers aren’t only programmed to take accounts and your NP, because they are human beings! Perhaps you could be the luckiest Neopian alive- something so simple, yet effective.
I hope you’ve found my article helpful in educating you of prejudices you may have had about scams, hackers, or otherwise. Education in this subject will hopefully help you in your journey to having an enjoyable experience on Neopets. – Annie