The hacking help corner.

[Arrie Warclaw]

Ok, I don't know how well this is going to fly but as misery loves company I have decided to create this. All you who have been hacked recently, come here and post your tale of woe. For those of you have been hacked at some point in the past, come and post how you got your account back. If you have tips that helped get your account back, post them here. I have been posting stuff in the news thread but feel it is being ignored. (no offense to those who noticed)
All advice given in here will be taken and made in to some very nice journal entries once I get my main back.
And I have my main back! W00T!
But this place shall stay. I feel that everyone needs a place like this to turn to when ever they need advice. And we can respond far quicker in here than a thread in the Gaia help forum.  

[Arrie Warclaw]

This is one of my favorite places to help spread the word about hackings. The person who runs it is so nice and this poor place needs more love. And a few more that are good to look at.

 

[Arrie Warclaw]

Ok, to start things off I shall tell my story. I was hacked on May 23rd. It was early in the morning and I was half asleep when a popup window asked for my user name and password to verify that I wasn't a bot (picture in news thread). I guess you could say that that was the point at which I lost my account. When I got back from work 8 hours later I found that my email had been changed. I immediately filed a hacking report. About 2 hours later Wraith noticed that my main was online. So she created an emergency thread in the chatter box to attract the attention of a mod so my account could be frozen. That worked but the hacker continued to use my account to phish for passwords. So now it is under a temporary ban until the Gaia staff gets to me. The mod that froze my account and I have exchanged several PMs and he has helped me figure out what to do. I learned from PMing an unofficial omnimod that the wait time is currently about 3 months in the Gaia staff getting back to you.  

[Arrie Warclaw]

So, lesson one; drink coffee before going on Gaia early in the morning. xd
Lesson two; act immediately, especially if you account is online. The thread in the chatter box was a good idea. Another thing you could do is look at the mod created stickies and see if any are online.
Lesson three; ask questions of the mods if they allow it. The one that I was talking to was very patient with me. Remember to be polite and admit if you really did do something stupid like give someone your password if they threatened to have you banned if you didn't.
Lesson four; well, still working on this one. But life goes on. It has been hard to get along with out being able to change my outfit at will and spend what I want but I is slowly adjusting.  

[Arrie Warclaw]

Ok, I guess this place is now open for all your stories. For those of you who have been hacked in the past and have recovered, tell us what the mods asked of you to get your account back. I want to know what to expect when they contact me so I can start to gather the possible information I might need, like if they want me to say things only I would know, like my trade history.  

[treebornkettlgrl]

aw... it sucks about all that crap going on crying  

[Arrie Warclaw]

treebornkettlgrl

aw... it sucks about all that crap going on crying

*purrs and huggles*
me first post! You get extra love for that!
heart heart heart heart heart heart  

[Aldora21]

i have no story, just many thanks to the gods that be, and keep knocking on wood when i say "i have not been hacked yet". but thanks to your story (and knowing i would have fallen it in some of the states i've sat at a computer), i have created a back-up, just in case. still feels weird.  

[scubaso]

hackers suck.  

[idgaf kthx]

-glomps bd- that's a terrible thing that's happened to you.. and it could happpen to the most cautious of us at any time.

luckily, i haven't been hacked, although i have caught and reported those that have tried. luckily, it wasnt anyone too sneaky. one was an avi named something having to do with the gaia battle system, asking to send in my info to become a tester for the game. one was just plain stupid. some random guy asking me to give him my account info if he gave me a million gold. its amazing how people will go to such extremes to get a virtual outfit or item.

those people are everywhere and will try anything. you just gotta be super careful. im not saying in any way that falling for something could show carelessness. we're humans. we make mistakes.

-ends the speech by poking one of the little flames around bd- OW! hot!  

[Aetherschreiber]

Heh... this account is two of three already...

Personally, I change my passwords about once a month in order to prevent anything bad. So far, it's worked.

I've noticed some bad links that look like Gaia but aren't and if you read the URL too fast, you won't notice. Things like gaiaunline (dot) com and the like.  

[Arrie Warclaw]

Aetherschreiber

Heh... this account is two of three already...

Personally, I change my passwords about once a month in order to prevent anything bad. So far, it's worked.

I've noticed some bad links that look like Gaia but aren't and if you read the URL too fast, you won't notice. Things like gaiaunline (dot) com and the like.

I have seen those occasionally. Hack PMs annoy me far more cause they make them look really good to.  

[Willa-Wisp]

My main account was hacked during the Halloween event back in October. Fortunately, both of my sons (very computer savvy) were able to quickly re-access my account, but the hacker wiped out my bank (about 600K at the time). At least, he/she got stopped before my inventory was swiped also. Had a lot of monthly collectibles and letters in it... some of which I ended up selling to recoup some of my bank so I could keep my store running.

Filed the hacking report with Gaia, filling out all the required info. And then waited... and waited... and waited. In the meantime, my wonderful friends and several of my frequent traders generously helped me get back on my feet. After I was hacked, I was angry and very upset to the point of considering leaving Gaia. Then I realized that by doing that I would be letting the hacker take away more than my gold. By leaving I would lose all the great friends I've come to know here. That was a powerful motivation.

Nearly seven months after the hacking, a Gaia mod PMed me and "restored" my bank by sending the items the hacker bought with my gold. Today those items (should I decide to sell them... which I'm not) have excessed the amount I originally lost.

Lessons learned...
Hackers will happen whether you "help" them (as with your sleep-deprived accident, Beady) or not (as in my case).
Accept the kindness of friends and strangers and then pass that along to others who have been hacked (it's a karma thing).
Surprises also happen when you lest expect them (Gaia actually responding... albeit many months later... and acting on the hacking report).
The purpose of being here is not for earning gold (that's just a fun past time). The real "riches" here are the people - all the faceless, scattered throughout cyberspace friends you make here in Gaia world.

And that's all I have to say about that. 4laugh  

[Arrie Warclaw]

*purrs at Willa*
Thank you for sharing. I was kinda upset over the fact that the 44k I was saving for a first gen Fausto's bottle is probably gone. But my items are worth for more to me. (for all those who were around for my birthday you know why) I just live with the knowledge that I will get my account back eventually. Besides sleepy headed stupidity I have done nothing wrong on my part, all the activity was by action of the hacker.
Even if it takes more than the original 3 months I heard at least I know that I will get my account back eventually.  

[zann]

Ok, I have never been cracked(I've busted my own chops one time, and due to a glitch in gaia, managed to, well.. change my account name without knowing it xd ), but to add to bd's lessons(guidelines):
Make a strong password.

That's -the- best way to protect your account from active account cracking.
bd fell for the passive cracking, and those buffoons that offers X for your password, well.. those aren't worth mentioning.. because if someone falls for that.. in my opinion(and do note that I'm a bit cynical) deserve to lose their accounts.

but let's get on with the lesson!
What Makes a Strong Password?
Step 1: Make it -at least- 8 characters long.
Step 2: Use BOTH non-caps and caps.
Step 3: Use Numbers, it's an easy way to make a weak password a decent one.
Step 4: Have a good mix, so you have numbers and alpha mixed up in the whole password (ie. A1b2c3D4)

There you have it, a good tutorial for making a strong password.

Note: Do NOT use my example password.

EDIT: Cracker... not Hacker.. read up on the difference, please. ^^

EDIT2: Oh, and some smuck is trying to gain access to my account this very moment.. but since the ones answering the inquiry mail don't seem to care, I'll just let my good password tire out the cracker 3nodding