The Magical Disappearing Neopoints! *dies*
Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:52 pm
Okay, yesterday, I had over 160,000 NP on hand. Bad idea, no? But I had just transferred it from my old account to a new one, that had been given to me from a good, old friend. And I went offline for the night. I get back online, I have 84 NP on hand. I check the bank: no NP. I check my items: everything there. I check my deposite box: yup, everything there too. I check my pets, my Cloud Uni was there and my lab pet was there.
My friend, Amanda, had given me the account after she left Neopets aftering being scammed. The whole thing was awful and I could see why she left. Long story and I won't go into it, but I think she created a new private account that she rarely will use. So after looking through everything, I messaged her at my oekaki, asking her if she'd transferred the NPs to her private account after thinking it was her NP. She said no and she had no clue what happened to the NP. I asked if she'd given the password to anyone else and she said no.
I'm totally ruling out the concept that it had been Amanda, that Amanda was lying. I could list a million reasons. If you've known her for as long as I have, you'd agree. So don't even consider that idea.
Then there's the idea that it had been a hacker/scammer/someidiotthatsomehowknewthepassandgotin. Which is unlikely, as: a.) the pets were still there, one that was painted a relatively expensive colour and the other quite strong, b.) all of the items were there, and she had quite a few items that would draw in a good deal of NP. But just in case it had been, I changed the password.
I'm guessing it was a glitch...but I don't know...does anyone know what it sounds like?
My friend, Amanda, had given me the account after she left Neopets aftering being scammed. The whole thing was awful and I could see why she left. Long story and I won't go into it, but I think she created a new private account that she rarely will use. So after looking through everything, I messaged her at my oekaki, asking her if she'd transferred the NPs to her private account after thinking it was her NP. She said no and she had no clue what happened to the NP. I asked if she'd given the password to anyone else and she said no.
I'm totally ruling out the concept that it had been Amanda, that Amanda was lying. I could list a million reasons. If you've known her for as long as I have, you'd agree. So don't even consider that idea.
Then there's the idea that it had been a hacker/scammer/someidiotthatsomehowknewthepassandgotin. Which is unlikely, as: a.) the pets were still there, one that was painted a relatively expensive colour and the other quite strong, b.) all of the items were there, and she had quite a few items that would draw in a good deal of NP. But just in case it had been, I changed the password.
I'm guessing it was a glitch...but I don't know...does anyone know what it sounds like?
Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:59 pm
Hmm. Did you change the password after Amanda was scammed?
Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:01 pm
She gave me the password after she was scammed...I don't know if she changed it or not, but I didn't.
Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:12 pm
Kula wrote:She gave me the password after she was scammed...I don't know if she changed it or not, but I didn't.
Ok, well it might be a good idea to ask her, incase it's the same hacker.
Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:35 pm
jellyoflight wrote:Kula wrote:She gave me the password after she was scammed...I don't know if she changed it or not, but I didn't.
Ok, well it might be a good idea to ask her, incase it's the same hacker.
*twitches* please don't use the word hacker - you're giving hackers a bad name
Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:29 am
Wasn't a hacker, it was a cracker.
Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:25 pm
Wasn't a cracker either, it was a scammer or a password guesser.
A hacker is someone who is knowledgable about computers (very knowledgable). A cracker is someone who breaks into websites/games by modifying code/writing scripts/programs. A script kiddies is someone who doesn't know jack about cracking but downloads a crackers programs or scripts and uses them.
And scammers and password guessers aren't even worth mentioning, as they are at the very lowest of lows on the "computer elite" chart.
A hacker is someone who is knowledgable about computers (very knowledgable). A cracker is someone who breaks into websites/games by modifying code/writing scripts/programs. A script kiddies is someone who doesn't know jack about cracking but downloads a crackers programs or scripts and uses them.
And scammers and password guessers aren't even worth mentioning, as they are at the very lowest of lows on the "computer elite" chart.
Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:51 pm
*holds hand high up in the air*
Ok...scammers.
Ok...scammers.
Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:30 am
Sounds likes the same scammer/hacker/cracker/hijacker/bad guy/"whatever-is-PC" to me. Probably a good idea for you to change all passwords--both Neomail and email accounts. And, secret question, as well. It is always a good idea to change everything anytime you even think someone else might know the password. Better to be over-paranoid, than sorry.
And, just because the painted pets and rare items are still there, doesn't mean some bad person wasn't in the account. Some "bad guys" only take the nps and leave the rest, particularly the pets. Because rare items and painted pets (with unique names) are easy to trace--nps are not. The bad guys know that, so don't bother with them. I know--my husband was the victim two years ago of almost exactly the same thing. Didn't bother taking the baby kacheek because the "bad guy" knew just how easy it would be to track that pet's movements. But took most everything else.
Oh, and by the way, it might not be a stranger at all. At one time, it was quite popular in my daughter's school for friends to ask for, and to know, each other's passwords. I never understood why. But, it is possible that one of your friend's friends or siblings/family members might have known the password to the account and just laid-in-wait for you to transfer your nps over to the account.
And, just because the painted pets and rare items are still there, doesn't mean some bad person wasn't in the account. Some "bad guys" only take the nps and leave the rest, particularly the pets. Because rare items and painted pets (with unique names) are easy to trace--nps are not. The bad guys know that, so don't bother with them. I know--my husband was the victim two years ago of almost exactly the same thing. Didn't bother taking the baby kacheek because the "bad guy" knew just how easy it would be to track that pet's movements. But took most everything else.
Oh, and by the way, it might not be a stranger at all. At one time, it was quite popular in my daughter's school for friends to ask for, and to know, each other's passwords. I never understood why. But, it is possible that one of your friend's friends or siblings/family members might have known the password to the account and just laid-in-wait for you to transfer your nps over to the account.
Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:00 am
Kula
First let me say how sorry I am this happened to you.
I was scammed with a fake login page early on in my Neo experience
The scammers took ALL my np, moved alot of things from my gallery/shop and sdb into my inventory but didn't take anything but the np. At that point my pets weren't painted, I was saving for that - so the scammers got about 100k. They didn't change the password or the email which even I think is odd. The moving things around I think was just to "play" with me.
Now my situation was somewhat different than yours, but I agree with Morningstar on this one. Someone knew the password -- either the original scammer, the original owner, or did you maybe use a public computer? I've heard that more times than not, that that's how someone gained access, through a shared (at home or public) computer.
In your case, I would definitely change the password, changing the email is tricky now -- they send a request notice to the OLD email, so anyone with access to that has access to any other information.
Technically, it is against the rules to give an account away. Maybe that's partly why they send an email to the old email addy. I don't know.
Untill you talk to the person who had the account and get things straight with them (that you're changing the email, that a confirming email should be coming to them authorizing the change, etc.), you may be open to repeated instances of someone else getting into and doing whatever in that account.
If the original owner was scammed and the email was changed so that they don't have access to it, I don't know if there's really anything you can do. That person should have notified TNT when the account was originally taken over so that the email and all other information was correct.
So, see if you can get in touch with the original owner, find out exactly what, if anything, they did, if the email is under their name and if so, that they will help you in changing it to the new email so you can change all the information with confidence.
First let me say how sorry I am this happened to you.
I was scammed with a fake login page early on in my Neo experience
The scammers took ALL my np, moved alot of things from my gallery/shop and sdb into my inventory but didn't take anything but the np. At that point my pets weren't painted, I was saving for that - so the scammers got about 100k. They didn't change the password or the email which even I think is odd. The moving things around I think was just to "play" with me.
Now my situation was somewhat different than yours, but I agree with Morningstar on this one. Someone knew the password -- either the original scammer, the original owner, or did you maybe use a public computer? I've heard that more times than not, that that's how someone gained access, through a shared (at home or public) computer.
In your case, I would definitely change the password, changing the email is tricky now -- they send a request notice to the OLD email, so anyone with access to that has access to any other information.
Technically, it is against the rules to give an account away. Maybe that's partly why they send an email to the old email addy. I don't know.
Untill you talk to the person who had the account and get things straight with them (that you're changing the email, that a confirming email should be coming to them authorizing the change, etc.), you may be open to repeated instances of someone else getting into and doing whatever in that account.
If the original owner was scammed and the email was changed so that they don't have access to it, I don't know if there's really anything you can do. That person should have notified TNT when the account was originally taken over so that the email and all other information was correct.
So, see if you can get in touch with the original owner, find out exactly what, if anything, they did, if the email is under their name and if so, that they will help you in changing it to the new email so you can change all the information with confidence.