Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello one and all!

I see many times in different places -in this guild and out- about how people have become hacked! Ah the horror~ And I can say that from experience!

Lets use my account as an example! It is a high hacker attraction due to the account worth, well over 11 million in items*. Now, due to high value items being equiped to your avatar, it becomes a hacker target.

Also, if you are suspected of having a large amount of gold, like from a quest thread, a chairity event, or prize money for a contest you are hosting, you also become a target!

How to keep your account safe!

First, lets talk password!

Your password is suggested by me -to be the safest- to contain at least 6 characters -this is letters and numbers!- but to try and have a combo of both letters and numbers.

Things not to us:

Birthday
the word: Password in any shape or form.
Simple sayings or numbers: ABC123

And the list could go on.

Things to us:

Two words
A word and a number combo
Two words and a number combo! -Recomended!-


Alright, now that we have talked about your password... lets talk about what not to do with it.

Its a very simple thing: Do not share it with no one!

Unless you are done and through with the account, do not under any reason give your password out! No one from gaia's heads will ask you for your information. Think about it... this is their sight. They can do what ever they want, including find out what you password is. They don't need you to tell them, so don't.


Password Phishing.

Fishing, or sometimes refered to as Phishing, for passwords is basically mule accounts of hackers sending off Private messages to 'targets' to try and get the ussername, password and email used to create the account. No matter what these pm's may say, do not under any reason reply to them.

These pm's may contain:

Threats
Promises
Or statements of you being under an investigation.

None of this is true! Unless you see the ussername of the avatar in green, they do not work for gaia! And even if they did, they wouldn't be asking for the ussername, password and email used to create the account. As again, they can find out this imformation easily if need be!


So, what do you do if you get one of these?

Use the report button!

Report it for Phishing, and then go back and delete the pm!

That is the safest way to maintain your account, and protect yourself from password phishers!



Another kind of hack:

Checking to make sure you are not a robot!

This is a dialog box that will pop up in another window from the one you are currently in.

It will state that your actions are odd, and that you need to re-enter your information to make sure you are not a robot!

So here is what you do... Click the close button!

Unfortuently, these are harder to find, but are also gaian ussers trying to get your information.

But remember... Gaia Admins will NEVER ask for any of your information!


Email hacks:

Do not let anyone know what email you have used to create the account! As gaia sends you an email if you click the 'I have forgotten my password' button when you log in. If the hackers know your email, and can access it, they can then hack your account with out knowing your gaian password. So make sure to keep this information safe as well!

One last type of hack that you can prevent...

Gaia cheet sites.

Though they promise you millions in gold, they allow your account to become hacked in the end. So do not try to take this short cut to the riches of the world! In doing so, you will fall to your doom in the end.



I have also heard of one last type of hack, unfortuently this one is not preventable, nor is it easy to handle. Its a pure hack. Where someone is so desperate that they hack your account with out you even knowing. Unfortuently all you can do is make another account -or log onto a mule- and report that your account has been hacked.




Under all cases of a hack, or an attempt of a hack, you should report it. If you do not report a hack, gaia admins can not try to help you regain your account or what was on it. When reporting anything, try to be as detailed as you can, and do not lie when they ask what was on your account.

I keep a list of all major items that I wouldn't be able to stand to be with out if I ever got hacked, and update it every so often and save it to my computer, this way if I ever do fall for a pure hack, I will know exactly what was on my account.


Though you may think that reporting a hack will get your account back asap, it will take time. When I was hacked, I had the robot check box pop up. I was on a school's computer and typed in that information. Unfortuently for me, the day before that I had changed my password at school to the one I used on my gaian account. A week after I typed in my information to the 'robot' box, I lost my account.

Reported it, and about a month or two later, was able to get it back!


So I do hope this has helped at least someone... Feel free to post any and all questions or comments here, on my profile, or send me a pm with them!


-I am not a gaian admin, and all of the above information has been obtained over my 4 years here on gaia. If any of it is wrong, please let me know. If you have something to add (like maybe a screen shot you have taken) please pm me the details.-

*Account worth was based off of a tektek estimate about a month ago. Actual worth of this account is what I am wearing. All my other items are stored among 4 unknown mule accounts owned by me.

Saved for future use.

-BuMp-

This is a very useful thread. You are great to post it here. I myself have had a hack attempt. It said that I had been reported, and if that was a mistake, I should type in my username, password, email, ect. I reported it, and deleted the PM. [Yes, I did it all right.] Most people tend to try to hack owners of populous guilds, because I own a populous guild, and when I was inviting some people, then the tried to hack me.

Good info, thanks for posting that! :3

Thanks! I've never had an attempted hack and hope I'll never get one, but I'm glad that you gave out this info. Now I'll be EXTRA careful 3nodding

how do u include a screenshot when filing the report