Now that's attempted customer service! Good Job Trendy! Tell your boss we say you need a huge raise!
I like tangible evidence. I haaaaaaaaaate what the rumor mill can be like. I don't work in CS, but I can't even begin to tell you how many people have reported that they sent in a "very concise and polite ticket to CS" that was filled with enough obscenities to make George Carlin blush.
I have also seen the rumor mill get thrown with rumors like "Arc is selling my personal information!" because they were getting emails from other organizations.. except they forgot that they put their email address on their Facebook page. That was publicly available. Actually true story.
So I'm hesitant until I have a chance to actually look at the details at hand.
Now, I don't know much about computers, but if your (the OP's) buddy knows a good computer guy who can track code, sic him on that hacker. I know a few guys who can do that, but find someone local and just let 'em loose on the coding. I bet you they'll find the original guy within a week. And yeah, get reliable proof for our friends (looking at you, Trendy) to look over. Other than that, only thing that can be done is a good deal of swearing at the wall and maybe throwing a stress ball or two at said wall. That's what my cousin did when his WoW account got stolen.
So much stuff fishy from this story. Like the fact CS can track mail and trades so someone claiming they said they can't raises a big red flag to their story to me. Or the fact fradulent charges would be covered by the owner of a stolen card. And that they can even trace IP addresses and match them to mail addresses.
Sounds more like the player charged a bunch, canceled their own card thinking they could get away with claiming it was stolen, then "tried" to get their account back.
Sorry but your the holes in your players story are too big to ignore.
Yes, PayPal will crawl of their own grandmother's corpses to give buyers everything they want whether it's justified or not. If your a seller on places like Ebay on the other hand... prepare to bend over and take it without lube on a regular basis. I'm totally serious they've screwed me out of hundreds.
I've contacted Trendy privately to try and resolve this, so hopefully something should come out of it. And if she can't, I can accept that. All I had hoped was that the effort would be made. I appreciate that it is.
An authenticator would go a long way towards preventing this type of thing if only cryptic offered that, I really wish all MMOs had them
I really wish that PWE had a mobile authentication tool, that seems like a much better method to me. Most of the other MMO's I have played have had that option, and I always use it.
I won't speculate and what actually happened here, I will just say that I try and keep in mind that there are generally 3 sides to very story. The first persons perspective, the 2nd persons perspective, and the truth. I'm not saying the OP is lying, I'm sure he's relaying the information he has with as much accuracy as humanly possible, I just believe there is probably more to the story then the one side we're hearing.
I'm glad Trendy is looking into it, and I hope the guy gets his account back. Frankly, the whole thing sounds like a big mess and it's probably going to take some digging to get to the full story.
An authenticator would go a long way towards preventing this type of thing if only cryptic offered that, I really wish all MMOs had them
I really wish that PWE had a mobile authentication tool, that seems like a much better method to me. Most of the other MMO's I have played have had that option, and I always use it.
I won't speculate and what actually happened here, I will just say that I try and keep in mind that there are generally 3 sides to very story. The first persons perspective, the 2nd persons perspective, and the truth. I'm not saying the OP is lying, I'm sure he's relaying the information he has with as much accuracy as humanly possible, I just believe there is probably more to the story then the one side we're hearing.
I'm glad Trendy is looking into it, and I hope the guy gets his account back. Frankly, the whole thing sounds like a big mess and it's probably going to take some digging to get to the full story.
I suspect some level of social engineering attack is part of it.
First and foremost I need to investigate this. It requires looking into the account. Due to the nature of accounts and security, I won't be posting information about what's happening with the account because frankly, that's both disrespectful and completely against the premise of account security. But people do care. Not even just me, but a lot of people.
And as for why I didn't lock this thread? I take concerns like this very seriously. Is it my job? No. Is it something I care about and can potentially help with if I go in an hour early tomorrow? Yes.
If Tredy gets this sorted out, please advice your friend on secure passwords and some basic internet security.
Believe me he got a crash course into internet security. The wrong way for sure but he did learn something
What did he learn exactly? Not to use email? Not to play MMO's?
Kudos to Trendy for acting well beyond the call of duty, though, and looking into this! I sure hope the h-a-c-k-e-d guy had the wherewithal to divest his PC of viruses first, as now his entire computer should be considered compromized; else it's Once More Into The (security) Breach again next week.
I want to add that I don't actually believe that PWE support are conniving Saturday morning cartoon villains acting maliciously. I use humor because it comes off better than sarcasm in text form, and is better at conveying contrasts in poor behavior.
I really don't know what they were thinking, and I don't have any account detail access for my fleetmate, even though I'm posting this on his behalf. I wouldn't ask him to compromise his privacy or security like that. I have the information I've been given, and I've been working with him to try and work through this. I have contacted Trendy with the relevant details on his behalf- and maybe my involvement stops there. I don't know. This post served, quite literally, as a cry for help, and I really appreciate the support the community has shown- and the fast response from Trendy.
I hope that this has a happy ending, even though I fear that I'll end up with egg on my face. Ultimately though, I made this post, I reached out here and elsewhere- because I feel that there is an obligation as a player to make the game better- for everyone. That this has happened to a fleet mate only impacts that I know about it. How I feel, the effort I've put in- I do this sort of thing for random strangers. I'm the guy who spends three hours scouring american tax code so a random small business can figure out how much they owe- not because I get paid, or because they owe me a favour, but because it's the right thing to do and they needed my help.
While I've made allusions to players being particularly loyal to the game through purchases or long play, the truth is that a lot of that is just... window dressing. It's there for emphasis and impact. How I really feel is that nobody deserves the kind of treatment I outlined in the thread OP. Nobody deserves to lose their account- new or old- or to suffer injustice, extortion, or the like.
But at the same time, I'm well aware that issues are often more murky than they appear, or are presented. I know that PWE might not have the information they need- either at first glance, perhaps, or upon further investigation. I know that they aren't acting in bad faith or maliciously- mistakes are made, yes, but they are just what they are. Mistakes. Unintended- either out of consequence, training, or just pure accident.
That's hard to accept, because it's so easy to demonize people- to take the values you disagree with, or the actions you feel have harmed you, and use that as a justification to paint the people you attribute them to as being bad guys. I've done it before myself, and it's a constant fight to avoid doing it, even day to day.
I suppose this is why I don't really feel like blame should be levied. Yes, fault exists. Mistakes were made, TRIBBLE happens- but blame should not be laid against anyone for it. Blaming Cryptic, or PWE, or the specific members of the teams that were involved in the demeaning response won't accomplish anything positive. It might make you feel better, elevate how you feel about yourself by saying those people are inferior in some way to you.
But really? It doesn't help. Doing that sort of thing taints future interaction, often with people who do aim to help you. It doesn't help the community become better than they are.
And I really believe that this community has come so very far from its inception, that it has become better than it was, and will continue to do so.
I've contacted Trendy privately to try and resolve this, so hopefully something should come out of it. And if she can't, I can accept that. All I had hoped was that the effort would be made. I appreciate that it is.
Can't the person himself do anything about it? Sorry, if everything the OP says here is fact and thrue, but I have some second thoughts. Why go with such a serious matter to a forum side as Reddit?
Another thing. 500 bucks spending on this game is a lot in my view and does not make sense. If I were Cryptic, I would be suspicious with these kind of transactions. Realize they have also here the short end of the stick. And what is the nonsense that things are so hard to trace? Those 500 bucks were no pocket money going over the counter.
One thing to be aware of in the security arena. If the perp hacks your STO account first then they have to hack your e-mail account. That is twice the work (or social engineering to make you give up your own passwords). On the other hand, if it is just someone out hacking emails then they have no idea what games you might play UNLESS you have left email to/from billing departments lying around and/or mention it in any saved mails. Then they have a pointer straight to the right games to hack. I am going to email right now and deleting a couple of zen bill statements I forgot and left lying about.
It would not surprise me to find there are email hack groups who hack mail, look for billing statements for game currency etc., hack the games and liquidate and sell to gold farmers, and move on to the next mail hack. Keep any email accounts tied to your game accounts as empty as possible of anything people like that can use against you.
Why go with such a serious matter to a forum side as Reddit?
Maybe because CS regularly just tells you "Go to the forums!" and the forums just tell you "Go to CS!"?
Another thing. 500 bucks spending on this game is a lot in my view and does not make sense. If I were Cryptic, I would be suspicious with these kind of transactions. Realize they have also here the short end of the stick. And what is the nonsense that things are so hard to trace? Those 500 bucks were no pocket money going over the counter.
At least we can deduce the OP's friend is a whale. As PWE normally has a $200 bucks spending limit (for 2 days), which cap you need to have increased, on request.
I've contacted Trendy privately to try and resolve this, so hopefully something should come out of it. And if she can't, I can accept that. All I had hoped was that the effort would be made. I appreciate that it is.
Well good luck and I hope this gets resolved(with a happy ending) then!
Retired. I'm now in search for that perfect space anomaly.
I can not see anything publicly being done about this, to just even acknowledge it would be like basically stating that PWE are in the wrong for this, it would hammer their shares in the market if it made big news and the last thing they want is something like this coming up. besides this anyway, account issues are not dealt in public anyway.
now as for the claim by the op? it is only that, a claim because he is not the account holder so he wont get zilch in cooperation, so he can scream to the top of his little lungs as a "nobody" all he likes, it wont change anything. the facts are that he doesnt really know if this is actually the case or not, PWE must confirm if there was illegal activity, otherwise it is just the OPs word with nothing to back it up.
right now, i can not take the OPs word for it until there is hard proof and it is backed up by PWE saying it happened.. you have more luck watching the sun explode first before they would acknowledge this.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
I can not see anything publicly being done about this, to just even acknowledge it would be like basically stating that PWE are in the wrong for this, it would hammer their shares in the market if it made big news and the last thing they want is something like this coming up. besides this anyway, account issues are not dealt in public anyway.
now as for the claim by the op? it is only that, a claim because he is not the account holder so he wont get zilch in cooperation, so he can scream to the top of his little lungs as a "nobody" all he likes, it wont change anything. the facts are that he doesnt really know if this is actually the case or not, PWE must confirm if there was illegal activity, otherwise it is just the OPs word with nothing to back it up.
right now, i can not take the OPs word for it until there is hard proof and it is backed up by PWE saying it happened.. you have more luck watching the sun explode first before they would acknowledge this.
Why are you always so negative chaos?
Trendy has already said they would look into it (even though its not even in her job description) and others have stated that in the past they have had positive/helpful experiences when they have had their accounts breached.
As for PWE having its market share and share price 'hammered' over something that occurs on a regular basis accross all MMOGS; well I think that is a highly inaccurate statement to make.
I can not see anything publicly being done about this, to just even acknowledge it would be like basically stating that PWE are in the wrong for this, it would hammer their shares in the market if it made big news and the last thing they want is something like this coming up. besides this anyway, account issues are not dealt in public anyway.
now as for the claim by the op? it is only that, a claim because he is not the account holder so he wont get zilch in cooperation, so he can scream to the top of his little lungs as a "nobody" all he likes, it wont change anything. the facts are that he doesnt really know if this is actually the case or not, PWE must confirm if there was illegal activity, otherwise it is just the OPs word with nothing to back it up.
right now, i can not take the OPs word for it until there is hard proof and it is backed up by PWE saying it happened.. you have more luck watching the sun explode first before they would acknowledge this.
Why are you always so negative chaos?
Trendy has already said they would look into it (even though its not even in her job description) and others have stated that in the past they have had positive experiences when they have had their accounts breached.
As for PWE having its market share and share price 'hammered' over something that occurs on a regular basis accross all MMOGS; well I think that is a highly inaccurate statement to make.
looking into it is one thing, acknowledging they have a problem are two entirely different things.
as for your response on the way i act? your emotional response is not my concern, so moving on.
lol try telling sportsdirect that their shares dont crash when something serious comes gets outed on the media. you think fire control is a cheap thing to cover as well as the fact there will likely be others who want to look into such practices?
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Comments
I have also seen the rumor mill get thrown with rumors like "Arc is selling my personal information!" because they were getting emails from other organizations.. except they forgot that they put their email address on their Facebook page. That was publicly available. Actually true story.
So I'm hesitant until I have a chance to actually look at the details at hand.
Believe me he got a crash course into internet security. The wrong way for sure but he did learn something
E'Mc2 : Science Reman torp T'Varo, deadly annoyance :P
Kunmal: Tactical fed Klingon, ground specialist, USS Kanewaga
Ka -tet Tier 5 fleet fully completed Starbase and fleet property
You see, someone does care. Probably more then they should. Good effort there.
Hope it gets resolved.
Now as to what @stobg2015 and @kavase have said...that does frighten me.
Am I "more safe" if my transactions have all gone through PayPal ?
Sounds more like the player charged a bunch, canceled their own card thinking they could get away with claiming it was stolen, then "tried" to get their account back.
Sorry but your the holes in your players story are too big to ignore.
I really wish that PWE had a mobile authentication tool, that seems like a much better method to me. Most of the other MMO's I have played have had that option, and I always use it.
I won't speculate and what actually happened here, I will just say that I try and keep in mind that there are generally 3 sides to very story. The first persons perspective, the 2nd persons perspective, and the truth. I'm not saying the OP is lying, I'm sure he's relaying the information he has with as much accuracy as humanly possible, I just believe there is probably more to the story then the one side we're hearing.
I'm glad Trendy is looking into it, and I hope the guy gets his account back. Frankly, the whole thing sounds like a big mess and it's probably going to take some digging to get to the full story.
My character Tsin'xing
And as for why I didn't lock this thread? I take concerns like this very seriously. Is it my job? No. Is it something I care about and can potentially help with if I go in an hour early tomorrow? Yes.
Bort listening to feedback, trendy helping out a customer in her own free time.
Very impressed
Thank you.
It's pretty much this hard to keep just one timeline intact. ♪
What did he learn exactly? Not to use email? Not to play MMO's?
Kudos to Trendy for acting well beyond the call of duty, though, and looking into this! I sure hope the h-a-c-k-e-d guy had the wherewithal to divest his PC of viruses first, as now his entire computer should be considered compromized; else it's Once More Into The (security) Breach again next week.
I really don't know what they were thinking, and I don't have any account detail access for my fleetmate, even though I'm posting this on his behalf. I wouldn't ask him to compromise his privacy or security like that. I have the information I've been given, and I've been working with him to try and work through this. I have contacted Trendy with the relevant details on his behalf- and maybe my involvement stops there. I don't know. This post served, quite literally, as a cry for help, and I really appreciate the support the community has shown- and the fast response from Trendy.
I hope that this has a happy ending, even though I fear that I'll end up with egg on my face. Ultimately though, I made this post, I reached out here and elsewhere- because I feel that there is an obligation as a player to make the game better- for everyone. That this has happened to a fleet mate only impacts that I know about it. How I feel, the effort I've put in- I do this sort of thing for random strangers. I'm the guy who spends three hours scouring american tax code so a random small business can figure out how much they owe- not because I get paid, or because they owe me a favour, but because it's the right thing to do and they needed my help.
While I've made allusions to players being particularly loyal to the game through purchases or long play, the truth is that a lot of that is just... window dressing. It's there for emphasis and impact. How I really feel is that nobody deserves the kind of treatment I outlined in the thread OP. Nobody deserves to lose their account- new or old- or to suffer injustice, extortion, or the like.
But at the same time, I'm well aware that issues are often more murky than they appear, or are presented. I know that PWE might not have the information they need- either at first glance, perhaps, or upon further investigation. I know that they aren't acting in bad faith or maliciously- mistakes are made, yes, but they are just what they are. Mistakes. Unintended- either out of consequence, training, or just pure accident.
That's hard to accept, because it's so easy to demonize people- to take the values you disagree with, or the actions you feel have harmed you, and use that as a justification to paint the people you attribute them to as being bad guys. I've done it before myself, and it's a constant fight to avoid doing it, even day to day.
I suppose this is why I don't really feel like blame should be levied. Yes, fault exists. Mistakes were made, TRIBBLE happens- but blame should not be laid against anyone for it. Blaming Cryptic, or PWE, or the specific members of the teams that were involved in the demeaning response won't accomplish anything positive. It might make you feel better, elevate how you feel about yourself by saying those people are inferior in some way to you.
But really? It doesn't help. Doing that sort of thing taints future interaction, often with people who do aim to help you. It doesn't help the community become better than they are.
And I really believe that this community has come so very far from its inception, that it has become better than it was, and will continue to do so.
So thank you again. I appreciate all of you.
Can't the person himself do anything about it? Sorry, if everything the OP says here is fact and thrue, but I have some second thoughts. Why go with such a serious matter to a forum side as Reddit?
Another thing. 500 bucks spending on this game is a lot in my view and does not make sense. If I were Cryptic, I would be suspicious with these kind of transactions. Realize they have also here the short end of the stick. And what is the nonsense that things are so hard to trace? Those 500 bucks were no pocket money going over the counter.
It would not surprise me to find there are email hack groups who hack mail, look for billing statements for game currency etc., hack the games and liquidate and sell to gold farmers, and move on to the next mail hack. Keep any email accounts tied to your game accounts as empty as possible of anything people like that can use against you.
Maybe because CS regularly just tells you "Go to the forums!" and the forums just tell you "Go to CS!"?
At least we can deduce the OP's friend is a whale.
Well good luck and I hope this gets resolved(with a happy ending) then!
now as for the claim by the op? it is only that, a claim because he is not the account holder so he wont get zilch in cooperation, so he can scream to the top of his little lungs as a "nobody" all he likes, it wont change anything. the facts are that he doesnt really know if this is actually the case or not, PWE must confirm if there was illegal activity, otherwise it is just the OPs word with nothing to back it up.
right now, i can not take the OPs word for it until there is hard proof and it is backed up by PWE saying it happened.. you have more luck watching the sun explode first before they would acknowledge this.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Why are you always so negative chaos?
Trendy has already said they would look into it (even though its not even in her job description) and others have stated that in the past they have had positive/helpful experiences when they have had their accounts breached.
As for PWE having its market share and share price 'hammered' over something that occurs on a regular basis accross all MMOGS; well I think that is a highly inaccurate statement to make.
looking into it is one thing, acknowledging they have a problem are two entirely different things.
as for your response on the way i act? your emotional response is not my concern, so moving on.
lol try telling sportsdirect that their shares dont crash when something serious comes gets outed on the media. you think fire control is a cheap thing to cover as well as the fact there will likely be others who want to look into such practices?
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
You seem to refer to people having 'emotional' responses to your post's quite often...
There is a difference between making an observation and having an 'emotional' response to a poster who clearly has some anger issues.
But yes, it is best to move on as you say.
Good luck to the OP, hope it gets sorted for you soon.
The post-Geko era. As soon as Salami took over, the amount of communication increased 500%.
of course that is your assumption to make. that ends this.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Geko was never EP.