Hi and welcome to my guide. I’ll start out bluntly, the only reasons I chose to write this is because it is REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE.
You’ve probably seen a lot of people open up trades saying “I got hacked, plz gime npps” or message boards saying “plz, i got haxed, giv me stuff plzzzzzzzzzz” Now this guide is to prevent people from actually REALLY get hacked or scammed.
First and for all. I’m going to cover the scammer part, since this is the most “popular” part amongst people.
Scammers are people who try to trick you into giving them YOUR NP’s, items or account/email password. The ONLY 2 lines that you have to remember or write down while browsing on Neopets are:
1. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t true!
2. If you feel uncomfortable about something, don’t do it!
Notice that I made the last parts really visional. If someone asks you to do something that makes you feel uneasy or uncomfortable, then don’t do it ! I lost my account too when I was little (boohoo T_T), but I never again lost it due to scammers!
If people come up and say something that sounds too good to be true, it isn’t true ! This is a TYPICAL discussion between a hacker(H) and it’s victim (V)
H: “Hey, I got this 1337-hacking tool from my uncle that works at Neopets, I can give you infinite NPs if you just give me your password!!
V: “I’m not stupid, you’re just gonna steal my account, you wouldn’t need my password if it’s that “1337”.
H: “Don’t kid with me, I need your password ’cause my uncle said I can’t show anyone how to do it, it’s a secret!
V: “Okay, hurry up then.”
… and he has your password. This might be a little overdone, but it’s pretty much the same thing in reality.
That covers the Scammer part. Now on to the hacker part. This is the most dangerous type of internet-scum, since it’s mostly hidden beyond normal eye view.
The most dangerous things are trojans. By far the most volatile. You go on a site that promises Neopets tips, help, cheats, items, neopoints,avatars and possibly more. And a few days later, they have your account, even if you change the password. It’s easy as that.
The next thing are Keyloggers, just as lethal, but less easy to fall in to. Keyloggers require you to type in your password and username first, so anyone who actually does it, deserves to get robbed !!
NEVER EVER type in your password or username to ANYTHING ELSE THAN NEOPETS.COM.If you do so, it’s your own fault if you get robbed.
And then we have the email-hackers. These are mostly people you know or.. “know”. They have to have access to what kind of email address you have first. Since neopets.com doesn’t show your email address to public. That’s why you should keep your account info. secret from EVERYONE. These people just guess or hack your email-address password in various ways which I’m not gonna explain, since it’s of no use.
That covers up most of the hacker / scammer parts.
Everything taught in here redirects to the 2 GOLDEN RULES of Neopets safety :
Don’t ever, EVER listen to what people tell you, if it makes you feel uneasy, or makes you think something is wrong.
Don’t ever, EVER believe anything that sounds too good to be true.
Abide by these 2 rules, and you’ll be safe from e-scum.
The next step in Neopets safety is Neopets itself. You have to be wary of Neopets itself. Read the rules, and understand them, if you don’t, ask someone to explain.
This is one giant step into safety.
Never butt into something that your not a part of already. I speak out of experience.
I tried to prove to people how annoying it is to send chain letters, and I made a little fake chain-letter of myself, which made me lose my account, eah,it WAS stupid of me, I shouldn’t have butted into something I wasn’t a part of.
If you see people scamming/hacking/breaking the rules. Report to the Neopets team. It’s far more painful if the culprit tries to login the next day, and see their account frozen than if people said, “You’re gonna get banned buddy, I’m gonna make it happen,” the night before and expected it.
I don’t know if this is creating prejudice against Neopets staff, but I’m talking out of experience. The Neopets staff WON’T help you if you get scammed/hacked or frozen.
UNLESS you are 100%, no-doubt, obviously frozen UNFAIRLY. They WILL help you then. Make sure they don’t HAVE to help you by following the rules.
And the last, most hidden, most dangerous, most painful way of getting robbed, is by trust. Don’t trust ANYONE with your account, not ANYONE. Not your brother, your sister, your “best friend”, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your dog, your cat, your imaginary friend, NOT ANYONE. “Why?” you say “It can’t hurt to give them access right?” It might not hurt, but it’s unnecessary and dangerous.
This redirects to the rule above :”Never butt into something that your not a part of already.”
There you have it, the total guide to internet-safety by reyuron.