Scammers
- Beware!
Unfortunately
Neopia has a major problem with Scammers. Gurlz.Inc cares about its
members and this is why we have placed a special section on our homepage
about Scammers. Please read all of what we have. We will add
more information as soon as we get it. Updates will be posted in
the Guild News.
Fake
Log In Pages
Summery of Scam:
You are redirected to a fake login page that looks exactly like the
Neopets login page. If you enter your Neopets username and password,
you've just given a hacker your account.
Spotting It:
Whenever you get a Neopets login page that you didn't expect to get,
always check the URL (the "Address" line in Internet Explorer
or the "Location" line in Netscape). Be especially sure to
check the URL if you get a login page after trying to buy an unusually
low priced item in a user's shop.
The URL for the Neopets login page will always be as follows:
http://www.neopets.com/loginpage.phtml
If you ever encounter a login page with a different URL, it's a scam
attempt. Report it!
Variations of this Scam:
The following variants of this scam have either been observed or
theorized to be possible:
A shop is set up with fake items at really low prices. When you attempt
to buy them, it redirects you to the fake login page. This variant is
usually accompanied by heavy advertising in the chat boards, because the
items will not show up in the shop wizard.
Attempting to enter a user's shop redirects you to the fake login page.
Attempting to look up a user or pet's information or home page redirects
you to the fake login page.
Fake Neopet Staff Neomail
Summery of Scam:
You get a Neomail that claims to be from Neopets or a member of the
Neopets staff, or someone else official sounding. For one reason or
another (see "Observed Variants," below, it asks you for your
password or to change your e-mail address to something else. If you do
so, you've just given a hacker your account.
Spotting It:
Remember: Neopets will never ask you for your password. Never. Neopets
says this over and over again, but people still fall for this scam. You
need to understand that Neopets simply doesn't need your password. They
have direct access to the servers that Neopets runs on and can do
anything they want to your account any time they want without ever
needing your password.
If anybody ever asks you for your password for any reason in neomail,
it's a scam attempt. Report it!
Variations
of this Scam:
The following variants of this scam have been observed:
Neopets has had a database crash and needs your password to ensure that
you keep all your items.
Neopets has detected that you have multiple accounts and needs your
password to scan your system to make sure you don't have multiple
accounts. If you don't send your password immediately, Neopets will
freeze your account.
Neopets would like to thank you for your generous donations to the Money
Tree by giving you a special prize. To do so, we need your password.
A virus has been detected on your system and we need your password to
remove it
Money or Items for Nothing
Summary:
Someone sends you a neomail or posts a message in a chat board claiming
to have a way to get money or items for free. If you follow the process
provided, you've just given a hacker your account.
Spotting It:
If they ask you for your password, or ask you to change your e-mail
address in your user preferences, they're trying to scam you. Period.
Report it! (See "If Someone Tries to Scam You," below.)
Remember: There is no magic way to get rich quick, except maybe for
somebody to be very generous to you. But nobody ever should need to know
your password or to have you change your e-mail address to give you
anything. If this thing really worked, and they really wanted to share
with the masses, they could just keep getting money or items for
themselves, and then give it to other people.
Variations of this Scam:
I have a program which will double (or triple) your neopoints (or
items). This variant is often accompanied by a caution that it only
works if you already have at least n neopoints (often 70,000).
I have a program which can give you some large number of neopoints
(usually 100,000 or 1,000,000) neopoints. Again, they often say that
this only works if you already have some large amount of neopoints.
Wall
of shame to be added
If
you know any scammers please report them to neopets at abuse@neopets.com
and let us know so we can post it here too.
Be
Safe Gurlz :)
