2007-11-20 10:47:31
Cheating, bots and scams
I wanted to quickly return to a news article which was published a while ago. We see an increasing number of people offering downloadable bots or other miracle remedies for winning a maximum of Kamas in-game. What’s more surprising is the number of players who get taken in by these scams.
Recently, Friday to be exact, we forced the closure of a website/blog offering a downloadable bot which promised instant riches. We investigated the bot and discovered it was a trap which sent the account details of players to the creator of the pseudo-bot by email.
In 3 days, it collected the account information of 1200 people.
The same bot was reopened on a new website on Saturday, resulting in more than 200 new victims in one weekend.
All I am trying to do here is alert the playing community, in particular the younger players who are less aware of the dangers, to this sort of activity. First of all, we cannot return anything to players. Even ‘honest’ victims of scams don’t receive any compensation, but players who attempt to use these types of programs have the clear intention of cheating and this doesn’t exactly encourage us to help you out. Second of all, your account will be totally emptied by the author of the scam.
So just take care when people offer you things. Try to imagine these real-life situations:
• You’re riding you bike/scooter/motorbike. Someone comes up to you and says “Lend me your keys, I’ll tune this thing for you. New tires, new chain, I’ll even wash it. I’ll give it back to you straight after.” Would you hand over your keys?
• Someone comes up to you in the street and says “Lend me your credit card and your pin code, I know a way to get 100 bucks in 1 minute and it won’t cost you a penny.” Would you believe it?
If bot/cheat programs were actually available, do you really think some stranger would let you use them for free, and risk getting caught? Free of charge? Just ask yourself what they have to gain from all this. If the answer is nothing or very little, it’s definitely a scam.
The person behind the latest occurrence has been identified and came from an island in French overseas territories. The police have been informed. He is a minor, but still risks serious consequences for his illegal activities.
Do not take these miracle-workers at face value. Ask yourself the simple question: why are they offering me this? Where is the catch? That will save you a lot of bother.
You risk losing everything with a simple error in judgment. What is more, you face a permanent ban for attempted cheating.
Finally, a message to the people who offer these types of programs: do not think that you cannot be found, and that you risk nothing. The police and the courts are putting more and more resources into these cases and you risk heavy fines, or worse. Being a minor does not mean you are untouchable.
A word to the wise…
Recently, Friday to be exact, we forced the closure of a website/blog offering a downloadable bot which promised instant riches. We investigated the bot and discovered it was a trap which sent the account details of players to the creator of the pseudo-bot by email.
In 3 days, it collected the account information of 1200 people.
The same bot was reopened on a new website on Saturday, resulting in more than 200 new victims in one weekend.
All I am trying to do here is alert the playing community, in particular the younger players who are less aware of the dangers, to this sort of activity. First of all, we cannot return anything to players. Even ‘honest’ victims of scams don’t receive any compensation, but players who attempt to use these types of programs have the clear intention of cheating and this doesn’t exactly encourage us to help you out. Second of all, your account will be totally emptied by the author of the scam.
So just take care when people offer you things. Try to imagine these real-life situations:
• You’re riding you bike/scooter/motorbike. Someone comes up to you and says “Lend me your keys, I’ll tune this thing for you. New tires, new chain, I’ll even wash it. I’ll give it back to you straight after.” Would you hand over your keys?
• Someone comes up to you in the street and says “Lend me your credit card and your pin code, I know a way to get 100 bucks in 1 minute and it won’t cost you a penny.” Would you believe it?
If bot/cheat programs were actually available, do you really think some stranger would let you use them for free, and risk getting caught? Free of charge? Just ask yourself what they have to gain from all this. If the answer is nothing or very little, it’s definitely a scam.
The person behind the latest occurrence has been identified and came from an island in French overseas territories. The police have been informed. He is a minor, but still risks serious consequences for his illegal activities.
Do not take these miracle-workers at face value. Ask yourself the simple question: why are they offering me this? Where is the catch? That will save you a lot of bother.
You risk losing everything with a simple error in judgment. What is more, you face a permanent ban for attempted cheating.
Finally, a message to the people who offer these types of programs: do not think that you cannot be found, and that you risk nothing. The police and the courts are putting more and more resources into these cases and you risk heavy fines, or worse. Being a minor does not mean you are untouchable.
A word to the wise…
I have seen cheating of this type many times and so have many other players. The problem is that no one knows how to get in touch with admins to do anything about it. How do we report abuse when we see it? I've not found anything in game or on the website that addresses this.
By: DaClamps - (2008-04-12 06:27:45)