Death to Scammers: A Survival Guide

What tactic do you use to avoid creating an uproar when breaking wind in public?

I fart in a crowded area then move quickly through it to pass it around so nobody knows who it was.	29.0%	[ 124 ]
I hold it back and release it in small amounts so it stays silent.	40.5%	[ 173 ]
I cough during the fart to drown it out.	3.3%	[ 14 ]
I clench my butt cheeks together with intense muscle control.	20.6%	[ 88 ]
I fan it away from me by pretending to dance.	6.6%	[ 28 ]
Total Votes:			[ 427 ]

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

As Gaia Online continues expanding, the opportunity for malicious users to invent various tricks to deceive and steal everything you've earned begins to surface. Sadly, thousands of users find themselves victims of these con artists and in the past have rarely seen justice or the return of their valuables. This thread is dedicated to expose those scam methods so you can develop somewhat of a 6th sense to detect these things in advance and protect yourself in future situations. You'll also learn what measures to take to secure your online activity and make you safer as you surf the internet. If you have any information to improve this thread, please PM me ASAP and I'll update immediately. All help is greatly appreciated. It's up to us to take a stand against these scammers and eliminate them.

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Table of Contents
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arrow Post I ~ Introduction
arrow Post II ~ Typical Scam Situations
arrow Post III ~ E-mail & IM Scams
arrow Post Post IV ~ Consequences of being Scammed or Hacked
arrow Post V ~ What can we do to put an end to scammers?
arrow Post VI ~ Spread the Word
arrow Post VII ~ Securing Your Computer
arrow Post VIII ~ Affiliates & Advertisements

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Thread History
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This thread was first created on Sun Jan 28, 2007 and placed in the Chatterbox. Up until CB threads were no longer subject to being on the list of top rated forums, it ranked as one of the top 20 threads on the forum. Now, nearly a year later I've decided the best way to reach the masses is to recreate that thread here where I can update regularly and reach even more Gaians. New and updated content is now available. Awareness coupled with sweeping changes across Gaia and a stronger moderator presence will finally help lay the foundation to eradicating scammers.

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Special Thanks
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Nolone, Yvan Et Nioj, chikabowwow, Jud4y, Angels_Thanatos55

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> Typical Scam Scenarios <<

exclaim Wrapped Deception
Over a year ago there was a user on a mule account who was claiming to be selling his Kiki Kitty for 2000g. Tons of people scrambled at the chance for such a low price on a rare, popular item. People sent their gold, and received a wrapped gift. When they opened it, they found Peasant Clothes. The scammer then transferred all the gold made to his/her main account and Gaia banned the one that he use to scam, which did no justice at all. If someone sends you a wrapped item, cancel the trade.

exclaim Fear Factor
Occasionally, you'll find a PM from someone with a name like [NPC] Admin or [MOD] Joey. They claim to be Gaia moderators or admins, and demand you give your password because they need access to your account and will ban you if you don't comply. New users especially feel pressured or scared and fall for this scam. Gaia NEVER asks you for your personal info. If Gaia admins want to look at your account activity, they don't need permission. If someone sends you a PM, posing as a Gaia official and asking for your password, report and ignore them immediately. You're being frightened with false accusations or threats to make you give up personal info.



exclaim Stabbed in the Back
This may have happened to a few of you, since I've heard that it's the most common scam and is why so many claim to have been hacked. You're really not being hacked at all. You just joined Gaia most likely. You found someone who seems nice and offers to help you. Maybe you don't know how to make a profile or change your preferences. You gave your password to someone else. They helped you. You thanked them. 3 or 4 months later when you've forgotten entirely about them, they sign into your account since you gave out your password and steal everything you own. Never trust anyone with your password. They will scam you regardless of who they are - siblings, friends you know in real life, etc.

exclaim Sympathy
You might've noticed tons of threads from beggars in Chatterbox, Charity, and Welcome to Gaia. They all claim to be new or victims of a hacker and need help. Don't believe them. Listen, if they just joined Gaia, let them figure it out and earn their gold first. It's not your responsibility to give your gold to someone else, especially when they're more than likely scamming you. Why should you put effort into making gold and then give it away to a lazy liar? How can you tell who's a scammer though? It's actually quite easy. Just check their profile out. When did they join? Any regular post activity? There are a lot of people who just make extra accounts because they're lazy, pose as new members, and just beg for gold. Most of those accounts are abandoned after just a few hours. Gaia's a forum with tons of features. If the person refuses to be active, don't waste your time and hard earned gold on them. Scammers are more than likely just running around begging for gold and randomly posting stupidness and quick comments anywhere. Look for people who have several comments in their profile from different people or who appear to actually be here for a purpose - those are the people you shouldn't be as suspicious about. If there's no [View Post History] link in a person's profile, use this method -- Special thanks to Windeh Chama for this information: "For finding someone's post, however, there's a much easier way then looking up their numbers and typing them into the search aurthor link. At the top of any New School Profile, past the My Gaia, Gams, ect. options, there is a blue questonmark in a white circle. If you click that, it shows serval options and ones avatar. Second from the bottom, there is view post, and if you click that, you are taken to their post history. =3

exclaim Corrupt Giveaways
This is actually a situation that I fell into. A scammer created a Lotto thread. You buy tickets and after all the tickets are sold, a winner is selected with the random number generator. Now, the first thing you look for is whether or not the person hosting it has the prizes. If the item they're giving away isn't on their avatar or they didn't post it up in their thread using the display inventory option, you know right away that it's scam. But let's say they do post the items or have them visible on their avatar. Now what? You really can't trust them either way. All I can advise is that you do an in-depth profile check on that person. Make sure that person has been a member of Gaia for a long time, at least over a year. They should have a large amount of posts too, especially if they're giving away something like a Kiki Kitty or Demonic Pendant for instance. If the person joined a few months ago and has 2000 posts, and claims they'll give you a Nitemare Scarf, I wouldn't trust them. Once they receive all their gold, they may cheat and enter their mule accounts into the contest. They then claim their mule won. They trade all the gold and their rare items away to another name. By the time you realize you were scammed, they're already safe. You report them to Gaia, and Gaia admins are useless. The account has no items or gold. Even if they ban it, the scammer still got away.

Don't buy tickets immediately. Wait and see what's going on. If the topic owner seems to be in a rush, has a lot of mispellings, changes their rules a lot, or makes new threads with the same event, they are a scammer. A perfect example of this can be found at this thread.

exclaim Obvious Mules
A user with a profile like this is clearly a mule. They join, have 4 posts or less, then vanish, never to sign on again. The use starter outfits or free daily items to decorate their avatars. More than likely, they'll swarm to the Welcome to Gaia forum and ask for friends. As soon as you send an invite, they PM you and beg for gold. They're scammers on mules. If you track the activity of a few of the new members on Gaia, you'll see many quit within the same day because they're just scammers on mules looking for sympathy points. They think you'll feel sorry for new members and want to help out. It's a scam. Another thing to look out for when finding a scammer is whether or not they have a signature. Also make sure to know where they're posting. If someone just joined today and is busy in a cyber sex hook-up thread, most likely they're a sicko on a mule who likes to get kicks and remain anonymous.

arrow Services
Sometimes, you hire a person to help bump your thread. Perhaps you're an artist who received a request for avi art. The other person though may scam you. How? In situations where people are bumpers, both sides could get burned. The person who's asking for bumping to be done should send the trade, but not complete it until the bumper finishes, otherwise you risk them taking the gold and escaping to another name. At the same time, bumpers beware. There have been situations where people completed their work and the person who requested their service cancelled the trade and fled to a new name. Always make sure you subscribe to the original thread where the rules are. Make sure you know the username of the person who hired you, or the person who is paying you. Never complete a trade until the task is done. If you're making art, send the art with the words 'SAMPLE' typed across the image. This way, the person can't steal it and must pay so you can send the original drawing without those words blocking it. When the trade is done, send the art.

exclaim Sob Stories
Alright, I get a lot of sob stories from people. Some of the best include:

"My grandma died and said her last wish was for me to have a lot of gold on Gaia."

and..

"I have cancer. I will die soon. Please give me gold."

I'm really not making either case up. People have really sent those to me as pleas in an attempt to make me feel sorry for them. Listen, if someone's grandmother or dog died, they shouldn't be on Gaia. They should be at counseling. If they have cancer and are dying soon, I don't see why the hell they're wasting their precious time on Gaia. Don't let someone scam you like this. Ignore them.

exclaim Avi Contest Scams
SnowDr0ps reported that she entered an avi contest that was rigged. Apparently she discovered that the owner of the thread had actually entered her mule account into the contest and was getting several votes every minute. This is why avi contests aren't safe. You never know who's using 10 mules or has their entire friendslist helping by voting for them to ensure they win.

exclaim 'PM ME AND ILL MAKE U RICH QWIK'
Someone on a naked mule posts around claiming they can give you hundreds of thousands of gold if you PM them. When you PM them, they ask for your password. It's a scam. Report them.

Thanks Velvet Volgar for this scam warning - supposedly linking to an illegal site where you pay real money and receive Gaia gold, which is against the rules here and can get you into serious trouble -


exclaim Quitters
There are numerous topics where the author claims to be giving away their belongings because he or she no longer wishes to be here anymore. Some claim they give items out randomly, with no specific criteria. Some throw hints that they want cyber sex in exchange for something. Others demand gold before they give away anything. Why would you need gold if you're quitting and giving everything away? Don't trust any of them. They're sick scammers.

exclaim Long-Term Scams
(Special thanks to Oxymoronic Username for this information)

Someone makes an account in oh, let's say March 2007. They post. They earn gold. They get Collectables. They meet people in Charities. They know the charity people are nice. They start talking to the nicer ones, earning the victims' trust.

Then, bam! They make two accounts: One to serve as their new account, another "victimized" account. They PM the victims with Account 2, saying that they were hacked and lost everything. They use the guilt trip card to make the victims feel sorry for them, to make 'em think that they need to help out this poor soul.

They give in, they give the scammer nice things, scammer talks to them for a week, they transfer everything to Account One, they post, earn gold, talk to people, lather, rinse, repeat. It's possible that Account One could also be the March 2007 account under a new name.

This scam, while being very uncommon, has a fairly high success rate. I like to call it the Ebola Effect because it's rare, but also extremely effective.

You may be wondering how I know the mechanics of this scam so well.

To be honest, I fell for a scam like this. I lost a Pixie and Superior Form because of that [explicit] [explicit] mother[explicit]ing [explicit]-eating son of a [explicit]y meanface. [Explicit]. (Humorous censorship aside, I seriously lost that stuff. Not fun.)

exclaim Towns Scams
Often times you'll find mules flooding Gaia Towns, advertising websites for free gold, rare items, etc. These are scams. In order to report them, use the Prt Scr/Sys Rq button on your keyboard - this way you capture a screenshot of your computer and have evidence to support your report when you bring it to a mod to prove that person was doing something illegal.

exclaim Rare Giveaway Scams
Some scammers take screen captured images of their inventory then copy and paste items they don't own so when you see the screenshot, you think they own them. I made a mock one here, I do not have a Coco Kitty, Mini Nightmare Wings, or a Dark Halo - yet in this poor quality JPG image, it appears so..




Many people fall for this scam where people post things like:

"I have a Coco Kitty. Whoever donates the most gold to me wins."

or

"If you want a Coco Kitty, bump here a lot and send me 2000g. I'll pick who wins it in the end."

If the item is not on the person's avi or they don't use the Post Action > Display Inventory to prove they own the item, it's a scam. ALSO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE SOME USE FAKE IMAGES OF THE DISPLAY INVENTORY OPTION. MAKE SURE IT IS NOT A PICTURE. MAKE SURE WHEN YOU CLICK THE [MORE] BUTTON, IT ACTUALLY OPENS TO DISPLAY THE NAME OF THE ITEM.

exclaim Gaia look-alike sites
Special thanks to Yvan Et Nioj for the following information..

These fakes sites look like Gaia and have a login dialogue that asks for your Gaia username and password. When you use these dialogues to log in, your Gaia account info is sent to a scammer and can be used to break into your account. Always make sure you are on http://www.gaiaonline.com before you log in.

WATCH OUT FOR HACKERS! THEY USE FAKE WEBSITES THAT MONITOR WHAT YOU TYPE AND STEAL YOUR PASSWORD TO TAKE OVER YOUR ENTIRE ACCOUNT:



chicabowwow reported the following:

mrmanboobs

if u cant get gold easly then uve found the place
1. type int he address bar cheatsforgaia.blogspot.com
2.folo instructions to ur dreams
3.ur rich

Clicking the link takes you to a hacker's keylogger site which steals your password so your account can be stolen. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK. REMEMBER, IT IS NOT RELATED TO WWW.GAIAONLINE.COM. ALWAYS LOOK AT A URL BEFORE CLICKING A LINK AND NEVER TRUST IT IF IT ASKS FOR A PASSWORD. CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE COMPLETELY AFTERWARDS TOO.

Here's a picture of some questions hacker sites ask to steal your information. Remember never to click those links. Special thanks to chikabowwow for submitting it - http://i10.tinypic.com/4vgskz7.jpg

chikabowwow & dragontika submitted this message that scammers have been sending through PM.. http://i7.tinypic.com/6eus3f4.jpg

exclaim "Vote for Me in the Avi Arena!"
Whenever I'm in CB, I'm bombarded by accounts posting 'Hi, please vote for me in the arena! [link' Sadly, while there are some Gaians who do this and actually link to their entry in the avi arena, others link you to a keylogger website - not part of Gaia Online - which if you click or try to sign into, will provide a scammer/hacker with all your personal information so they can steal your identity on Gaia as well as all your items and gold.

exclaim Gaia "Cheats"
Somebody claims to have a way to add insane amounts of gold and items to your account. They link you to a site that may or may not look convincing that asks you to fill out various fields, such as your Gaia account name, the items you want, the amount of gold you want... and your password. That's where the red flag should go up. Like Gaia look-alike sites, information you submit in these fields are sent to a scammer and are used to break into your account.

If anyone sends you a link to a page which appears to be on Gaia yet asks you to log in, it is a scam. They are called keyloggers. When you type in your password, the information is saved and sent to a hacker who then robs you. You may even receive an instant message where someone claims to have a site that explains how to get free donation items. When someone tried this one with me, they linked me to a Geocities site, which I didn't view. NEVER CLICK THE LINKS. THEY COULD BE VIRUSES. If they're not viruses, more than likely they lie to you and tell you to give away your password so they can give you rare items. All they do is hack you. Don't do it. Earn everything on your own. There is no quick, magic way to get expensive items or earn tons of gold.

If you see something like a thread where a scammer is trying to link people to a so called 'bot' site to earn 20k a day, report it immediately and never click the link.

exclaim Internet Relationships - The Love Card
You're free to chat with people and have your online relationships, nobody's stopping you - but you need to be cautious of who you're hooking up with if you do. Scammers like yen_blade are telling girls that his sister recently passed away. He uses it to build sympathy and try to get closer to the girl. According to `s t r a w b e r r y , after having known him for a while, he told her he wanted to give her a Kiki Kitty that belonged to his sister. He also told her that he loved her. He wanted her password to put the Kiki Kitty in her account. WARNING LIGHTS. He's a sick freak. Block him. Don't fall for these scams. Never trust people online - girls can pose as guys, guys can pose as girls. Anyone can go on Google and steal pictures and pretend that it's them.

Remember, these idiots can make as many free email addresses they want on AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. That means they make as many Gaia accounts as they want. They're sick freaks. They'll keep making new names and trying to trick people, especially all summer since they have no lives. You have to be on the look out for these scammers!

exclaim Fancy Mumbo Jumbo
If someone tries to convince you that you're in violation of any legal sections or articles of Gaia then they're scamming you. People go to elaborate details now to scam, even making banners like this:

Information Advisory

YOU HAVE BEEN SUSPECTED OF HACKING AN ACCOUNT

Failure to reply with your Screen name and Password will result in the banning of the accused account

-All Questions will be answered after the screening process-
-15 minutes is given upon opening this message to comply-

If, upon inspection, the accused account is found to be wrongfully tagged, the owner will receive 10000g for wrongful accusation*

*section 114 (found in Gaia T.O.S.)

Thank you for your Cooperation

-Gaia Hacking Security

exclaim Quiz Prize Scams
LunaPhantom reports that she has recently been scammed by one of the most common types of threads in Chatterbox - the huge quiz with a giveaway for whoever completes all the questions. Apparently after she completed the quiz and PMing the owner of the thread as instructed, he claimed he was hacked and never gave her the gold. People who own those threads are just looking to make a popular thread and trick you into wasting hours of your life to bump it up. Some warning signs include:

1 - What is the thread owner dressed in?
2 - When did the thread owner join?
3 - When was the last time the thread owner logged in and posted?

If they're wearing free or cheap items, joined last week, and only post once every few days, then you should be very suspicious before you take them seriously.

exclaim Gracious Donations

Sometimes what appears to be a gesture of kindness in the form of a huge donation can be disasterous to your account. Always investigate who the person is that's donating to you - have they been around for a while? It is possible they can actually afford to give up that much gold? See, hackers can give themselves unlimited gold, however when caught, they get banned. Anyone who accepts gold from can also share a similar fate. If someone who just joined 10 minutes ago is sending you 6000g, don't accept it.

exclaim Beta Testing
Sometimes people impersonate Gaia mods or admins and claim your account was selected to be a beta tester, but they need your password. You know the drill by now, it's a scam. Gaia never asks for personal info.

Below are examples of the messages these sick freaks send:

Quote:

Dear Gaia User,

This is a message from the admins of Gaia. Currently while going through our Beta phase we have encountered some problems. One particular problem accured with your account. To take action against these problems we'll need to have your password and how much gold you currently have so that we can restore everything to its current state. Please be aware nothing will be taken from your account and when we are done everything will be restored to its original state.

We are sorry for the inconvience. At Gaia we will never ask you for your passwords, but in this case its urgent. Unless you would no longer like to continue your account here, then we'll just demolish it.

Please reply within 24 hours with your username, password, and gold count if you'd like to save your account.

Thank you,
The Gaia Team.

*********************************
Dear Gaia User,

Due to our shortage of moderators available on gaia, we are looking for new users to become part of the gaia admin/moderator team. We have carefully noted and viewed your particpation on gaia and would like to name you a new memeber to our team, but before you can be recruited on, we will need to look into your account more upfront to make sure you haven't made abuses to the TOS or have contributed to other rule breaking that will eliminate your chance to be included as a new moderator onto the Gaia team. Please fill in the form below if you would like to join the gaia admin team. If you do not wish to be part of this team, please ignore this form and we will ask another highly participating user. This form is just to verify that this isn't going to be sent to another user that wasn't selected for this opportunity.

Username:
Password:
E-mail:
Position: Bannings or forums (please specify which one you want)

If you accept to this agreement, you will be notified soon after and another moderator will take you step by step into helping you learn your new job. You also know why taking on this job is very important for helping others and your gaia community, thank you and congratutaions.

-Gaia Admins

**************************************

Dear Gaian

We have received a few reports of you hacking Gaia. In order to avoid an immediate ban, we require your password to check your trade history. If you take longer then five minutes to respond to this warning, your account will be permanently banned. Unless you are offline at the time. In that case, you will have a 24 hour time period to do so. If you chose to cooperate and we find you guilty, your ban will only be for 1 week. But if you choose to disobey, your account will lose all of its rights and your IP will be blocked from our site.

Sincerely,
The Gaia Admin's

Special thanks to chicabowwow for PMing this new scam..

System_Online

>>We sorry to inform you but your account has been brought to our attention. Your account has been REPORTED and needs to be investigated for further information. Like any other Gaia Moderator, we dont normally ask for this information but to clear your report we need to check your account. We just want to help the innocent people to. You will be asked a few questions to verify that this is your account. Please fill out the information requested. If you do not fill out the information requested immediately your account will result in a Perma-Ban We Will reward you with something.

"85k,and Any collectible you may wan't"

*Username:
*Password:
*Confirm Password:
*Email Address:

>>Once your account has been verified that its free of faults, your e-mail provider will be notified when your account investigation is over. We thank you for your patience. If you do not reply in the next 24 hours there will be a 6 month ban.

Please do not submit PM reports for swearing, attitude, or issues not covered in the Gaia Online TOS. Additionally, please do not submit this form multiple times for the same PM, this is fake so dont belive this, or spam this form with meaningless information. Only submit this form for the exact PM that is breaking the Gaia TOS or Forum Rules.This form submission is subject to the Gaia Online Terms of Service.

Violation Report Manager

We are sorry to inform you but your account has been brought to our attention. Your account has been REPORTED and needs to be investigated for further information. Like any other Gaia Moderator, we dont normally ask for this information but to clear your report we need to. If you fail to cooperate then you agree to these charges and we will take steps in closing your account. You will be asked a few questions to verify that this is your account. Please fill out the information requested.

Username-

Password-

E-Mail Address-

Once your account has been verified that its free of faults, your e-mail provider will be notified when your account investigation is over. We thank you for your patience. If you do not reply in the next 24 hours there will be a 6 month ban.

Please do not submit PM reports for swearing, attitude, or issues not covered in the Gaia Online ToS. Additionally, please do not submit this form multiple times for the same PM, abuse this reporting tool, or spam this form with meaningless information.
PM: 5247260.09381487
Sincerely, [NPC] Violation Report Manager

Terra_Theos

Right after reading your thread...

from "Battle System Scout"

This is an automated message from the Admin.

Congratulations! You have been randomly selected to try out Gaia's new Battle System. A select few Gaia users were selected for this test. The Battle System is still in the beta testing phase so there is only one playable area. The test will start on August 1st, 2007 and continue through August 14th, 2007. An announcement will be posted telling all beta testers what to do. You will be granted a Battle Token after you click a link in an e-mail sent to you. The Battle Token must be in your inventory when you enter the Battle Arena. The Battle Token cannot be traded, sold in the Marketplace, or equipped. More information will be given once the announcement has been announced. Once you P.M. this NPC with your username, e-mail address, and password, the Battle Token will be added to your inventory. You MUST have the information in the following format. Failure to do so will result in the failed delivery of your Battle Token. If a response is not sent within 24 hours you will no longer be qualified to receive the Battle Token.



Username

E-mail Address

Password

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> E-Mail and Instant Message Gaia Scams <<

If you thought Gaia was the only place people will try to scam you for gold, think again. Several scammers use Instant Messenger services like AIM, YIM, or MSN to send IMs to members who display their online contact info on Gaia. I've been IMed several times by people with screen names like 'Mod On Gaia' who claim to be admins and demand your password. Remember, Gaia never asks you for your personal information. Block that person immediately. You may also receive email from someone posing as a Gaia admin asking for the same info. Block it. Gaia only sends email from [e-mail] and they will NEVER ask for your password.

Report screen names or email addresses to me also so I can display them. While scam activity of all types happen all the time, you're most likely to receive things like this during holidays when these sick freaks who scam and harass others on Gaia are on vacation. They have nothing better to do with their miserables lives so they abuse people on the internet. It's sad yet true. During vacation periods, there's a significant rise in these situations.

Always be aware that some people are able to create fake email addresses - meaning you may get an email from [e-mail] - but it's really a hacker. If the web url you're being linked to isn't www.gaiaonline.com, DO NOT CLICK IT.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> Consequences of being scammed or hacked <<

You're probably aware of the main consequence. You lose just about everything you own. In some cases, the hacker changes your password so you can't access your account ever again. What people don't know is that afterwards, you're actually a target to be banned by Gaia admins. Sounds odd, yet I've received several reports from friends of mine who were hacked and then banned. When a hacker is on your name, whatever activity they do can cause your account to be terminated. If this hacker was sending things to other people or names, there is also the chance that Gaia may ban those other people - even if they're innocent. If you've been hacked, it's best to just abandon your account and make a new one. Always use a complicated password mixing letters and numbers. Don't make it obvious. If your username is Kagome2k44 and your password is inuyasha, then you really screwed yourself up. Don't make it obvious. Don't make it a word. Hackers have programs that can test various word or letter combinations. Using both letters and numbers makes it much more difficult for someone to break into your account.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> What can we do to put an end to scammers? <<

Now to cover preventative measures so you don't become a victim. First of all, if you ever get a PM from a moderator, know that their name is Green. Also, below their name is their position on the staff. So if someone claims to be a moderator, and it doesn't say moderator under their name, they are lying.

Filing a report is extremely important, especially now more than ever. In the past, scammers would simply conduct their tricks then trade over their gold or items to another account. By the time a mod addressed the problem, the person had already abandoned that account. So the thief eluded punishment and continued creating new names to scam others and repeat the process. There is a new rule on Gaia concerning rollover infractions. If anyone on your computer does something to violate Gaia ToS, admins and mods will not only penalize that account, but every other account attached to your IP. So if your younger brother is harassing people and ends up banned, your account may be banned too. This form of blacklisting individuals may seem harsh however it is enforcing the rules here. Sometimes people need to learn the hard way before they shape up. Your report has value now because it can really eliminate a scammer. Be sure you're as detailed as possible - provide the name of the user, links to the thread or post, the time, what rule was violated. Don't just send something like 'ya dis guyz a scammr okithxbai.' Seriously, write a real report. Don't know how to report someone? If the violation is in PM, click the red button titled 'Report this PM' right below the message. If it's in a thread, use the 'Report this Post' option. If it's in your profile comments, journal entry, or you find someone is stalking you across Gaia, then use whichever of these links the situation deals with:

Report a Hacking - http://www.gaiaonline.com/gaia/report.php?r=1
Report a Scamming - http://www.gaiaonline.com/gaia/report.php?r=2
Report Abuse or Harassment - http://www.gaiaonline.com/gaia/report.php?r=7

Sadly though, people are already eluding this new system by using IP masking programs or other computers/laptops/cell phones in their homes.

Despite your frustration, don't sink to the level of trying to use foul language to insult the scammer. By doing this, you empower the scammer to report you for cursing or harassing them, then you'll lose your account. File reports. Don't say anything to the person. Pretend they don't exist. Gaia officials will handle them.

If your account password was changed by a hacker, you've lost access to it. When my friend's account was hacked, the hacker changed her name, email, and password. He then stole her items - and get this - tried to scam everyone on her friendslist. He sent messages to each one, posing as her, saying 'OMG, my account was hacked. I'm crying. Please help me by giving me some gold.' The audacity this sick freak had to exploit the stolen account even futher shows you that these people are lowlives and may even have serious mental problems which leads them to use the internet to harm others - maybe to feel better about their worthless lives. If you're hacked and create a new username, try to get in contact with your friends before that hacker scams them! Let them know that it's not you on that account anymore.

Scammers can easily change their name and make it difficult for you to track them. Their profile url never changes though. They may have changed their name in an attempt to avoiding being found. It also means that they may be running more scams. I suggest you ignore them all. For some reason they've managed to elude being banned. They abandon their account for a period of time and return later when they believe to have been forgotten. For instance, I was once scammed out of 1000g from a user named deaths kisses who was running a Demonic Pendant Giveaway. After the scam was complete and nboody won the Pendant, the person abandoned their account for a week or two, then came back on it and changed the name to -[ Emorific ]-, but the profile url always remains the same - http://www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/5163347/ -- Users can change their names twice for free then must pay 10,000g each time after. Be sure to have that person on your ignore list after you've reported them. If they're still active or change their name, report them again.

Every admin, global moderator, omni-moderator, moderator, site moderator, & moderator assistant is listed at this thread.

Clarion wrote a tutorial on How to report abuse/harassment CORRECTLY

Concerning password security, it's probably a good idea not to use the same password for every internet service you use, just incase someone manages to hack into your PC. Also, don't save your passwords and log-in information on your computer, you're better of writing them on a piece of paper and taping it under your keyboard incase you forgot something.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> Help Spread the Word <<

exclaim Please chat here to keep this thread alive so it can reach the massive amount of users on Gaia. Share your stories about incidents you have encountered or think would be of great value to others.

exclaim If you can donate banners to be used to help advertise the thread in signatures, then please do so. It's best that the thread be made available to people outside of CB too, that way more people can learn how to prevent scammers from taking advantage of them.

Special thanks to Maniera, xx[.azn.angel.]xx, Jud4y, [[Tsumi]] & Meke Keivo for their donations --

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[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> Tools to Secure Your Computer <<

[ Gaia ToS ] [ Spyware Remover ] [ Anti-Virus ] [ Free Firewall ]

Even if you're capable of detecting whether or not someone's trying to take advantage of you with a scam, you need to take precautions to avoid being hacked. The spyware remover and anti-virus program above are both free, high quality programs which can help protect you online. You should consider running them regularly, especially the spyware remover since spyware can cause your internet to lag and hackers could use it to monitor your online activity. Also be sure to always click the LogOut button whenever you're done using Gaia. As far as passwords go, go for something that isn't obvious. Mix letters and numbers to make it more difficult for others to find. Also clear your browser cache often. There's no guarantee that it'll protect you from EVERY hacker out there, but it'll help lessen the opportunity for them to get to you.

That firewall is ZoneAlarm for Windows/XP. Firewalls help secure you from browser hijackers who lurk on the net to steal your personal info, passwords, etc through cookies and malicious hacker programs. A firewall helps protect you from unwanted intruders.

How to Clear your Browser Cache (Internet Explorer/IE)
1. Click Tools > Internet Options (click here)
2. This window should pop up. (click here)
3. Click Delete Cookies > OK (click here)
4. Click Delete Files > Delete All Offline Content > OK (click here)
5. Click Clear History > OK (click here)

How to Clear Your Browser Cache (Mozilla Firefox)
1. Click Tools > Clear Private Data (click here)
2. Check of all that you'd like cleared then hit 'Clear Private Data Now' (click here)


FireFox Cookies
Firefox users, there's a method to clear cookies each time you exit your browser. Simpyl click Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies > Keep Cookies: until I close Firefox.

The Spyware remover is Ad-Aware. I've been using it for a few years now. It's reliable and safe. I found it a while back when AOL had a report on the best free spyware removing software online. The anti-virus program is AVG. It was advertised in a Windows XP tutorial I read. So you can trust that to be safe too. I've had no problems with it. IThey've only been a blessing to me.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

>> Affiliates & Advertisements <<

Got any petitions or threads to warn and advise users on creating a more enjoyable Gaia experience? PM me and I'll link to your thread so others can benefit.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

reserved

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

reserved

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

Alright, thread's open. Enjoy and stay safe!

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

During holidays, since school's out, you'll find an elevated amount of scam cases since some people are off from school and have nothing better to do with their lives but swindle others. Be suspicious about any giveaways or contests you see on Gaia. Don't trust someone too quickly and be sure to file reports if you find anyone trying to mislead you or violate ToS and scam you.

[Monster 0f Cerulean City]

Also remember, it's very rare to get your stolen possessions returned.

[NekoNation]

Omg Cerulean great thread ^^ this one looks like a top thread to me biggrin

[ROFLobster]

NekoBox

Omg Cerulean great thread ^^ this one looks like a top thread to me biggrin

Thanks, hopefully people will take the time to go over this. It only takes like 20-25 minutes to go through completely. Seems a little long, but it's worth it to ensure you don't lose what may have taken hundreds of hours over months or years to earn. I've added some new updates to this version and am open to suggestions or other pieces of information people can offer to protect Gaians.