GameAmp: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Forum >> General Discussion >> General Discussion >> Need help from a mod and giving a reason

User

Message

Mann

Posts: 5
Joined: 10/04/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Okay, first of all, is there ANY way to cancel my auction? If it's not possible, may I ask a mod to do so?

The reason being is that I woke up this morning to find everything in my character's storages gone. Money, armor, dye, gold, weapons, etc. Opened up my e-mail to find everything was deleted. Therefore, I can not withold my auction any longer.

However, those who I have won auctions from, I will still be able to buy your things. I have a friend who is willing to help me right now, and has helped me pay for some armor and weapons for the time being.

Basically back to scratch.

10/15/05 12:41

PsychoJOhnny

Posts: 3
Joined: 09/02/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Deleted ? What happened ?

JOhnny

10/15/05 21:37

Mann

Posts: 5
Joined: 10/04/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Well, somehow someone got my password and it was someone that had guild wars as well. Logged into my e-mail, deleted everything there, probably after looking, then logged on to Guild Wars and probably gave all my stuff to someone else. Fun ain't it?

I'm just happy to still have my account still. Would have been $50 down the drain. Have all characters, no armor. :p

10/15/05 23:32

Kain_Gibson

Posts: 3
Joined: 09/14/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Dude thats f-ed up.

My only question is..how did someone get your password? and e-mail? Hell im sure theres lots of ways, but tell us what you suspect, to help others from suffering such a fate.

best of Luck to you in rebuilding everything, if ya need some help give me a holler,

Kain Gibson (euro servers)

Kain

Disturbed - Liberate Music Video

10/16/05 00:06

Mann

Posts: 5
Joined: 10/04/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Well, I figured that there was backdoor thing when I connected to the internet somewhere. (Been using wireless internet) And I have no spyware on my computer that I know of. So there was a possibility someone was using a program to dectect what sites I've been to, where I'm connecting to, and how.

There's also a possibility that someone "hacked" into my computer. Wouldn't be the first time though.

A warning for people that care? Don't connect to unprotected networks, or unknown ones. You leave trails on where you go on the net.

10/16/05 01:36

binarydumb

Posts: 18
Joined: 09/12/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Ouch!

Mann, I feel your pain. When I am not playing Guild Wars, I am an IT Manager for a major firm in Seattle, WA. Yes, the home (or next to) both Anet and Microsoft.

Our network is both wired and wireless and is secured by the best (retail) firewall money can buy with security scanners in 2 tiers. In spite of these precautions we have been hacked into twice in 3.5 years. It is not an easy task and is also a time consuming one as well.

I know most will blame MS and so on but I always remember something my mother said when I was a child:

"To a thief, there is no wall too high to climb over".

I know it's a lesson that is painful, but everyone take heed: be careful of your access and passwords. There is a reason for them.

A little tip for everyone:

Rotate your passwords. I use four passwords on a week specific schedule. As an example, there are 4 full weeks in October, 2005. Use a password like 'abcdef.1', 'abcdef.2', etc., and use/change them depending on the week of month. It may be cumbersome, but would you like to go through the same thing?

Sorry for your loss, Mann. Hope everything works out. Also, contact me in game if there is anything I can help you with.

(edited for spelling)

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

10/16/05 02:46

binarydumb

Posts: 18
Joined: 09/12/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

I also forgot to mention this on my previous post..

Mann, have your tried to contact anet/ncsoft? They may have a log of somekind that may have the IP address or something of the access date/time your account was active before you realized your stuff was sold off/transferred. I am almost sure they have a logkeeper or something.

It may help.

Good luck again.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

10/16/05 02:56

Necromancing_Prince

Posts: 20
Joined: 08/31/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

ouch, that sucks. How much things did you lose Mann? anyhow if ya need help just PM me ( Payne Mp , main character I use now).

LII:
Kain Server:
Phoenix Knight Lv.79
Hierophant Lv.79
Shillien Elder Lv.74

10/16/05 03:14

Mann

Posts: 5
Joined: 10/04/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Thanks for all your advice and aid, but I feel that I should just start from scratch again. Besides, it is just a game. :) And I wouldn't want to take anything from anyone that was already hard earned for.

Contacting Anet? I'm not going to bother. For a few reasons actually.

1. I was probably already connected on to an unknown interenet source without knowing. I tried finding out myself, logs and what not, and nothing. I called up my uncle at work, he couldn't find anything either.

2. There's a big possibility that whatever I lost, is long gone now. So I'm not going to spend time searching for it. Instead, I'm making a few new characters to help out with my two little brothers. :)

3. They have things to do, and I'm sure they got a lot on their hands instead of trying to locate things back.

4. I prefer to work hard. :p Besides, this is just a game. ^_^

p.s. I hate rotating passwords. But now this happened again, guess I have to change. (I've used the same password for more than 8 years. :p)

10/16/05 03:41

neoelasticman

Posts: 21
Joined: 07/19/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

well i can tell you know about comps, so its not ignorance on your part. Have you distributed your info to anybody, at all? even trusted friends? they might have done something and not known it was unsafe; not everybody has the gift of computer know-how. You could ask them about it, or maybe your little brother if its the same account.

Another question, do you have a firewall? what kind? when was the last time you scanned your computer? when was the last time you updated your virus definitions? I assume that's all covered, but just to be sure all the basics are covered...

another thing, have you ever used a bot or similar? (be honest here, I'm not trying to accuse. Just trying to help)

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

Garrett Gervasius R/Me20, Zaya Gervasius A/R20, Artemis Gervasius Me/N, Electric Gervasius E/Mo

Use the Build Maker to make easy, linked skillbars for your unique build, without uploading a single picture! Just copy and paste code for each skill!

10/16/05 04:45

DeathEater

Posts: 11
Joined: 09/17/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Another possibility is that one of your friends, brother, someone close to you logged into your email account [they got the password from I-don'tknow-where] and realised they could get your account like this. They would just have to open guildwars, enter your email adress and press forgot password. The server would automatically send the new password to the email adress but the old password would still work too. That's probably how they got in and how you still have your account. That's also a probable reason they deleted all your emails.

If no one knows your email password, it could have been someone close to you that did the autologin with msn on your pc and got acces to your mails like that.

10/16/05 05:04

Mann

Posts: 5
Joined: 10/04/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

The only one who knows about my password is my other brother. And I'm sure he really wouldn't give something out, or have the idea of taking everything. My best friends I trust. Another reason why I don't think they would have done it is that none of them have Guild Wars. But hey, I never know, eh?

Right now I am using the Windows Firewall, Norton Anti-Virus (Too lazy to switch to mcaafee or make my own again), and zonealarm.

I'm leaning more torwards leaving traces of where I've been on the internet without knowing.

Nope. Never used a bot. I scan my computer everytime 48 hours. There's also another possibility that someone could have connected to my computer via internet. Forgot how that worked, it's been 4 years since I've really been into computer programming and what not.

Thanks for the help again. :)

10/16/05 10:14

DeathEater

Posts: 11
Joined: 09/17/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

They could have used telnet or you may have download a keylogger by accident on a guildwars webpage.

If you're using Mozilla Firefox, this is very unlikely, Internet Explorer however...

You should try and get the Microsoft Anti-Spyware tool... very nice, unlike Ad-Aware it doesn't delete MSN or anything, only things that actually are viruses/spyware.

If you do have a keylogger, you won't be able to find it by scanning. What you can do however is download your own keylogger, usually it will erase the old one. [look for keyloggers on google or whatever, only download keyloggers that are Trial Versions, otherwise you might actually download a keylogger so the guy that posted it there can see everything you type...] best of luck man!!

10/16/05 10:30

GW_Ranger

Posts: 42
Joined: 09/26/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

That really is F'ed up. People like that should be shot, literally. Sure its only a game, but theft is theft and the last time I checked stealing is still illegal.
Oh, and what's wrong with Norton anti-virus, because I am currently using it.

10/16/05 10:38

lani

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 626
Joined: 09/08/2005
Credibility: 28 pts

Re: Need help from a mod and giving a reason

Mann, I can understand you're inclination not to pursue this through NCInteractive support. You just want to get on with your life. I'd still recommend following up on this because the person who did this may strike again at someone else. The choice is yours ofcourse.

Now a some general tips on password security:

First of all, don't use the same password on multiple carriers (i.e. Windows logon, e-mail, Guild Wars, MSN account) but vary your passwords.
Second, don't use words that can be found in dictionairies.
Third, keep your passwords atleast 8 characters long, minimum.

I understand that it's hard to remember multiple passwords and especially if they have no rhyme or reason to them, I have the same problem. SO here's what I do.

I use keyboard patterns.
Pick a letter and press the keys around it in a certain pattern. If you're good at blind-typing this is easy, take a word you know and start with a different character. Now you have a very hard to break password, if you can type it really fast, it's even secure to over-the-shoulder-attacks.
And the best part is, you can simply create a new password by starting with another character. You'll remember the keyboard pattern itself quite soon, really.
Now all you need to do is remember the first characters of your passwords. In case of need you can come up with a word to remember and use the letters from that one as your 'root-characters'.

Now for added security it'd be best to insert one or more non-alphanumerical characters in your passwords, not at the end. You can't always do this though. MSN for instance accepts 1234abcd as a 'good password' but refuses !@#$abcd because of non-alphanumerical content.... Other nice gimmicks include using lower and upper case characters. Using a dictionairy word with (partial) L33TSP34K might help too, though leetspeak has been part of password cracking software longer than leet-speak has been known by the mainstream community.

Hope this helps :-)

Bored? Curious? Check out my "Gaming Experiences" Blogerette thingamjiggy whatchamacallit Now with Comment feature!

10/16/05 11:02

Don't Forget! - Rate users posts to reward or demerit their posts with Credibility!