i reprot them always but i dont feel it helps much
The emails come from accounts that are created just to send the emails, so reporting them isn't overly effective. Chances are they have generated a list of handles from their real account, saved it to a text file, and are copy/pasting them into the disposable account's email. Been going on as long as there have been MMOs, and won't stop anytime soon.
[quote="rllaillieu;12951275"]My way of dealing with this while amusing myself is two-fold:
If they PM me in-game, I tell 'em to bite me and then mark 'em as spam.
If they send me mail, I've got about twenty variations of "go to hell" that I'll send them. None of the variations are nice. It makes me feel a bit better and I usually don't get much flak from them after that. Also, there's the glory of plain not caring.[/quote] ___________________________
I tried doing that in Neverwinter... It just seemed to encourage them more... the messages kept coming more often, to the point where the majority of my time was wasted dealing with the messages they kept sending...
It was like paying wttention to a puppy... "Oooo... he petted me, He lovesxme now... see? Here I am... lookit at me!!!"
i reprot them always but i dont feel it helps much
The emails come from accounts that are created just to send the emails, so reporting them isn't overly effective. Chances are they have generated a list of handles from their real account, saved it to a text file, and are copy/pasting them into the disposable account's email. Been going on as long as there have been MMOs, and won't stop anytime soon.
This is one of the advantages of the subscription model. Spammers can't afford it.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
i reprot them always but i dont feel it helps much
The emails come from accounts that are created just to send the emails, so reporting them isn't overly effective. Chances are they have generated a list of handles from their real account, saved it to a text file, and are copy/pasting them into the disposable account's email. Been going on as long as there have been MMOs, and won't stop anytime soon.
This is one of the advantages of the subscription model. Spammers can't afford it.
Then they just create 30 day characters at a time using Trial accounts and spam using those.
0
rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,730Community Moderator
My way of dealing with this while amusing myself is two-fold:
If they PM me in-game, I tell 'em to bite me and then mark 'em as spam.
If they send me mail, I've got about twenty variations of "go to hell" that I'll send them. None of the variations are nice. It makes me feel a bit better and I usually don't get much flak from them after that. Also, there's the glory of plain not caring.
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite colored text = mod mode
I know the positive counter-example to gold-Spammers:
Several legit keystore-sites also offer MMO-currencies (in case of STO, Master Keys and EC, and powerleveling). They offer it on their sites only, and do not spam players ingame. It's professional, it's discreet, it doesn't hurt anything but wallets.
I know the positive counter-example to gold-Spammers:
Several legit keystore-sites also offer MMO-currencies (in case of STO, Master Keys and EC, and powerleveling). They offer it on their sites only, and do not spam players ingame. It's professional, it's discreet, it doesn't hurt anything but wallets.
no such thing as "legit" in that catagory since the services they offer almost universally violate Terms of Service
@lordsteve1 ah well… @mirrorchaos the OP wasn't aware of the EULA and came here to vent off and rant about this shady business : perfectly understandable although not very logic
it does not matter if he came to vent or not, the fact is what i wrote is exactly what this is.
I know the positive counter-example to gold-Spammers:
Several legit keystore-sites also offer MMO-currencies (in case of STO, Master Keys and EC, and powerleveling). They offer it on their sites only, and do not spam players ingame. It's professional, it's discreet, it doesn't hurt anything but wallets.
no such thing as "legit" in that catagory since the services they offer almost universally violate Terms of Service
Sir, check your sensors; they didn't detect the sarcasm in my statement.
I only ever once received a spam mail and it was from some nagus guy, still remember it. Other than that the only spam I see is in the chat and it always gets reported.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
The gold spammers would not be here in STO if there was not an opportunity for them. How sad this is. Some people simply have to "win" STO so badly, they are putting their Real Life identity and all that goes with it at risk. For the sake of a shiny in this game which they prize above all else.
I was an identity theft victim about fifteen years ago. Culprit was passing bad checks all over the place using my name and SSN. No idea how he got my name and SSN. All I know is somebody got careless with personal info. What saved me was the checks were from a bank I have never done business with. I spent about US $2,500.00 in lawyer's fees reacquiring my good name. Some of this still pops up now and again today. I got lucky. The culprit used my name one too many times and was caught. When the state of Oklahoma contacted me about his arrest in Tulsa, I wanted to burn the sucker to the ground in front of his family. The possibility existed I would be called to testify during his trial. More lost time and wages. More stress.
So I guess you have to ask yourself:
Is getting that LockBox ship off the Exchange today really worth the risks you're running with your good name?
Are you willing to put up with the consequences which will occur in Real Life over a shady transaction in a not very good MMO?
Do you have access to enough resources, right now, to not only clear you name but defend it from future repercussions which emanate from this transaction?
One more thing:
Using one of these gold spammers is a violation of that ToS Agreement you clicked on without reading. Don't you think Cryptic and Perfect World notice when someone has about 12,000 EC one day and then about 750,000,000 five minutes later? "Buh...buh..buh! I only spend a little bit each day! Whose servers did you do the transaction on? Where in the cloud do you think your account details are?
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
The gold spammers would not be here in STO if there was not an opportunity for them. How sad this is. Some people simply have to "win" STO so badly, they are putting their Real Life identity and all that goes with it at risk. For the sake of a shiny in this game which they prize above all else.
I was an identity theft victim about fifteen years ago. Culprit was passing bad checks all over the place using my name and SSN. No idea how he got my name and SSN. All I know is somebody got careless with personal info. What saved me was the checks were from a bank I have never done business with. I spent about US $2,500.00 in lawyer's fees reacquiring my good name. Some of this still pops up now and again today. I got lucky. The culprit used my name one too many times and was caught. When the state of Oklahoma contacted me about his arrest in Tulsa, I wanted to burn the sucker to the ground in front of his family. The possibility existed I would be called to testify during his trial. More lost time and wages. More stress.
So I guess you have to ask yourself:
Is getting that LockBox ship off the Exchange today really worth the risks you're running with your good name?
Are you willing to put up with the consequences which will occur in Real Life over a shady transaction in a not very good MMO?
Do you have access to enough resources, right now, to not only clear you name but defend it from future repercussions which emanate from this transaction?
One more thing:
Using one of these gold spammers is a violation of that ToS Agreement you clicked on without reading. Don't you think Cryptic and Perfect World notice when someone has about 12,000 EC one day and then about 750,000,000 five minutes later? "Buh...buh..buh! I only spend a little bit each day! Whose servers did you do the transaction on? Where in the cloud do you think your account details are?
I am not understanding the need for gold farmers in STO either because of how easy it is to turn irl money to in game currencies. If you have the money to spend you can get it just as fast here.
Oh and they won't spot that EC jump. I did exactly that when I got a second Annorax and sold it on the exchange. It was snapped up in seconds and I was 750,000,000 richer. . . for about an hour. Prices being so high you can spend through that pretty quick without buying another ship or keys. (The usual way to get EC ludicrously fast.)
Originally Posted by pwlaughingtrendy
Network engineers are not ship designers.
Nor should they be. Their ships would look weird.
The gold spammers would not be here in STO if there was not an opportunity for them. How sad this is. Some people simply have to "win" STO so badly, they are putting their Real Life identity and all that goes with it at risk. For the sake of a shiny in this game which they prize above all else.
I was an identity theft victim about fifteen years ago. Culprit was passing bad checks all over the place using my name and SSN. No idea how he got my name and SSN. All I know is somebody got careless with personal info. What saved me was the checks were from a bank I have never done business with. I spent about US $2,500.00 in lawyer's fees reacquiring my good name. Some of this still pops up now and again today. I got lucky. The culprit used my name one too many times and was caught. When the state of Oklahoma contacted me about his arrest in Tulsa, I wanted to burn the sucker to the ground in front of his family. The possibility existed I would be called to testify during his trial. More lost time and wages. More stress.
So I guess you have to ask yourself:
Is getting that LockBox ship off the Exchange today really worth the risks you're running with your good name?
Are you willing to put up with the consequences which will occur in Real Life over a shady transaction in a not very good MMO?
Do you have access to enough resources, right now, to not only clear you name but defend it from future repercussions which emanate from this transaction?
One more thing:
Using one of these gold spammers is a violation of that ToS Agreement you clicked on without reading. Don't you think Cryptic and Perfect World notice when someone has about 12,000 EC one day and then about 750,000,000 five minutes later? "Buh...buh..buh! I only spend a little bit each day! Whose servers did you do the transaction on? Where in the cloud do you think your account details are?
Identity theft sucks. Absolutely. But do you really consider that your online gaming was what compromised your information?
Keep in mind that things are different 15 years later. Microtransactions are all over the place, from mobile apps to this game itself (talking about the legal and normal ones, like buying Zen). So you're already putting your info out there a lot. I buy pizza online. And put my info out there for that. I've worked in credit card processing and e-commerce, development and marketing. I've spent a lot of time learning how data gets breached, and gold farmers are so low on the threat scale.
Sony and Turbine got their data breached a few years back. Playstation, LOTRO, it was crazy. Then all the other data breaches started to grab headlines. Like Target.
That leads to identity theft. Your billing information gets out there. And people steal your identity.
The thing you have to remember with the stigmatic and oft reprehensible business of buying currency in game from a third party provider using your real life money is that they want you to be a return customer.
They're not looking to sell your information or steal it. They're just looking to get you to pay money to them for more gold, platinum, crystals, whatever. Because they have a system in place where your money nets them so much profit on the sale that they're going to be a-OK.
I'm not saying there's no risk. I just feel like "gold farmers will steal your identity" is an urban myth that plays on fears. But when you look at where the real data breaches are happening right now, it's far more targeted at bigger databases with your billing information. Usually those are far more legit systems. Like Target. Or your Xbox or Playstation account.
I've written so many articles and blogs on both online security and virtual currency. And for me it always comes back to this:
1- People are absolutely afraid of getting their money or identity stolen
2- The systems aren't completely safe no matter what certificates and logos are brandished on a site
3- Most of the time you are insured these days. Your credit card company is used to this happening and will step up and help quite often.
4- There's always exceptions to that. Which propels the fear.
5- CONVENIENCE is key. People will, even knowing the risks, gladly pay for stuff if it is convenient. One or two clicks Easy confirmation And then boom, people will pay for things because it's easy.
This is really what fascinates me so much about this whole general idea. Virtual currency. Paying real money for pixels. Our buying behavior is changing. It has ripples throughout the very concept of an economy. Where value and worth comes from. (A topic covered by a LOT of sci fi and one of my favorite episodes of Black Mirror).
It's just amazing watching this evolve. 15 years ago someone stole your identity to pass bad checks. But think about today. How many people even pay by check regularly anymore? It's harder to pass a bad check just because more and more people are swiping plastic EVERYWHERE. And we're stepping into people swiping their phones instead. Or chips. We're moving quickly away from paper currency.
I can't get enough of this stuff. Just like how often people talk about how Star Trek previewed the flip phone, I'm watching all of this SCI-FI stuff I used to take for granted as a trope (credits tied to you in a virtual way, with no more cash and a cashless society) ... turn into my reality right in front of me.
All because some dudes wanted to sell a horde of platinum pieces in a fantasy video game to some other dudes for a few bucks.
The gold spammers would not be here in STO if there was not an opportunity for them. How sad this is. Some people simply have to "win" STO so badly, they are putting their Real Life identity and all that goes with it at risk. For the sake of a shiny in this game which they prize above all else.
I was an identity theft victim about fifteen years ago. Culprit was passing bad checks all over the place using my name and SSN. No idea how he got my name and SSN. All I know is somebody got careless with personal info. What saved me was the checks were from a bank I have never done business with. I spent about US $2,500.00 in lawyer's fees reacquiring my good name. Some of this still pops up now and again today. I got lucky. The culprit used my name one too many times and was caught. When the state of Oklahoma contacted me about his arrest in Tulsa, I wanted to burn the sucker to the ground in front of his family. The possibility existed I would be called to testify during his trial. More lost time and wages. More stress.
So I guess you have to ask yourself:
Is getting that LockBox ship off the Exchange today really worth the risks you're running with your good name?
Are you willing to put up with the consequences which will occur in Real Life over a shady transaction in a not very good MMO?
Do you have access to enough resources, right now, to not only clear you name but defend it from future repercussions which emanate from this transaction?
One more thing:
Using one of these gold spammers is a violation of that ToS Agreement you clicked on without reading. Don't you think Cryptic and Perfect World notice when someone has about 12,000 EC one day and then about 750,000,000 five minutes later? "Buh...buh..buh! I only spend a little bit each day! Whose servers did you do the transaction on? Where in the cloud do you think your account details are?
I am not understanding the need for gold farmers in STO either because of how easy it is to turn irl money to in game currencies. If you have the money to spend you can get it just as fast here.
Oh and they won't spot that EC jump. I did exactly that when I got a second Annorax and sold it on the exchange. It was snapped up in seconds and I was 750,000,000 richer. . . for about an hour. Prices being so high you can spend through that pretty quick without buying another ship or keys. (The usual way to get EC ludicrously fast.)
I hate to point you to visit the site, but the services they offer are a much better value than the legit version in game. Also, they not only sell creds, they sell ships, keys, etc. They wouldn't keep getting customers if that wasn't the case.
As far as identity theft goes, all of these kinds of places use shielded transaction methods (paypal, bitcoin, etc), so that risk is actually minimal. The real risk is getting your account banned because the creds you bought came from some exploit that Cryptic tracked the profits from. That kind of account ban doesn't get an appeal, so all your toons are gone, forever.
Is there a way to disable incoming friend requests? I already hate most of the STO playerbase, and if I want to add someone to my friends list, I think I'd rather be the one to initiate it.
Is there a way to disable incoming friend requests? I already hate most of the STO playerbase, and if I want to add someone to my friends list, I think I'd rather be the one to initiate it.
I'm pretty sure there is one, buried in the chat settings somewhere. It's in there with the block fleet invites setting I think.
Is there a way to disable incoming friend requests? I already hate most of the STO playerbase, and if I want to add someone to my friends list, I think I'd rather be the one to initiate it.
This topic has turned entirely weird. No, it actually started weird. Either way, good night.
/Closed
PS: Even moderators need some time off at times.
[10:20] Your Lunge deals 4798 (2580) Physical Damage(Critical) to Tosk of Borg.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator "bIghojchugh DaneH, Dumev pagh. bIghojqangbe'chugh, DuQaHlaH pagh." "Learn lots. Don't judge. Laugh for no reason. Be nice. Seek happiness."~Day[9] "Your fun isn't wrong."~LaughingTrendy
Comments
The emails come from accounts that are created just to send the emails, so reporting them isn't overly effective. Chances are they have generated a list of handles from their real account, saved it to a text file, and are copy/pasting them into the disposable account's email. Been going on as long as there have been MMOs, and won't stop anytime soon.
If they PM me in-game, I tell 'em to bite me and then mark 'em as spam.
If they send me mail, I've got about twenty variations of "go to hell" that I'll send them. None of the variations are nice. It makes me feel a bit better and I usually don't get much flak from them after that. Also, there's the glory of plain not caring.[/quote]
___________________________
I tried doing that in Neverwinter...
It just seemed to encourage them more... the messages kept coming more often, to the point where the majority of my time was wasted dealing with the messages they kept sending...
It was like paying wttention to a puppy... "Oooo... he petted me, He lovesxme now... see? Here I am... lookit at me!!!"
This is one of the advantages of the subscription model. Spammers can't afford it.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
Then they just create 30 day characters at a time using Trial accounts and spam using those.
NICE.
Nope. There are Gold sellers in WoW, and that is still a sub game.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Several legit keystore-sites also offer MMO-currencies (in case of STO, Master Keys and EC, and powerleveling). They offer it on their sites only, and do not spam players ingame. It's professional, it's discreet, it doesn't hurt anything but wallets.
no such thing as "legit" in that catagory since the services they offer almost universally violate Terms of Service
it does not matter if he came to vent or not, the fact is what i wrote is exactly what this is.
@jodarkrider
@askray
what is the course of action on this one?
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Sir, check your sensors; they didn't detect the sarcasm in my statement.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I was an identity theft victim about fifteen years ago. Culprit was passing bad checks all over the place using my name and SSN. No idea how he got my name and SSN. All I know is somebody got careless with personal info. What saved me was the checks were from a bank I have never done business with. I spent about US $2,500.00 in lawyer's fees reacquiring my good name. Some of this still pops up now and again today. I got lucky. The culprit used my name one too many times and was caught. When the state of Oklahoma contacted me about his arrest in Tulsa, I wanted to burn the sucker to the ground in front of his family. The possibility existed I would be called to testify during his trial. More lost time and wages. More stress.
So I guess you have to ask yourself:
Is getting that LockBox ship off the Exchange today really worth the risks you're running with your good name?
Are you willing to put up with the consequences which will occur in Real Life over a shady transaction in a not very good MMO?
Do you have access to enough resources, right now, to not only clear you name but defend it from future repercussions which emanate from this transaction?
One more thing:
Using one of these gold spammers is a violation of that ToS Agreement you clicked on without reading. Don't you think Cryptic and Perfect World notice when someone has about 12,000 EC one day and then about 750,000,000 five minutes later? "Buh...buh..buh! I only spend a little bit each day! Whose servers did you do the transaction on? Where in the cloud do you think your account details are?
I am not understanding the need for gold farmers in STO either because of how easy it is to turn irl money to in game currencies. If you have the money to spend you can get it just as fast here.
Oh and they won't spot that EC jump. I did exactly that when I got a second Annorax and sold it on the exchange. It was snapped up in seconds and I was 750,000,000 richer. . . for about an hour. Prices being so high you can spend through that pretty quick without buying another ship or keys. (The usual way to get EC ludicrously fast.)
Originally Posted by pwlaughingtrendy
Network engineers are not ship designers.
Nor should they be. Their ships would look weird.
Identity theft sucks. Absolutely. But do you really consider that your online gaming was what compromised your information?
Keep in mind that things are different 15 years later. Microtransactions are all over the place, from mobile apps to this game itself (talking about the legal and normal ones, like buying Zen). So you're already putting your info out there a lot. I buy pizza online. And put my info out there for that. I've worked in credit card processing and e-commerce, development and marketing. I've spent a lot of time learning how data gets breached, and gold farmers are so low on the threat scale.
Sony and Turbine got their data breached a few years back. Playstation, LOTRO, it was crazy. Then all the other data breaches started to grab headlines. Like Target.
That leads to identity theft. Your billing information gets out there. And people steal your identity.
The thing you have to remember with the stigmatic and oft reprehensible business of buying currency in game from a third party provider using your real life money is that they want you to be a return customer.
They're not looking to sell your information or steal it. They're just looking to get you to pay money to them for more gold, platinum, crystals, whatever. Because they have a system in place where your money nets them so much profit on the sale that they're going to be a-OK.
I'm not saying there's no risk. I just feel like "gold farmers will steal your identity" is an urban myth that plays on fears. But when you look at where the real data breaches are happening right now, it's far more targeted at bigger databases with your billing information. Usually those are far more legit systems. Like Target. Or your Xbox or Playstation account.
I've written so many articles and blogs on both online security and virtual currency. And for me it always comes back to this:
1- People are absolutely afraid of getting their money or identity stolen
2- The systems aren't completely safe no matter what certificates and logos are brandished on a site
3- Most of the time you are insured these days. Your credit card company is used to this happening and will step up and help quite often.
4- There's always exceptions to that. Which propels the fear.
5- CONVENIENCE is key. People will, even knowing the risks, gladly pay for stuff if it is convenient. One or two clicks Easy confirmation And then boom, people will pay for things because it's easy.
This is really what fascinates me so much about this whole general idea. Virtual currency. Paying real money for pixels. Our buying behavior is changing. It has ripples throughout the very concept of an economy. Where value and worth comes from. (A topic covered by a LOT of sci fi and one of my favorite episodes of Black Mirror).
It's just amazing watching this evolve. 15 years ago someone stole your identity to pass bad checks. But think about today. How many people even pay by check regularly anymore? It's harder to pass a bad check just because more and more people are swiping plastic EVERYWHERE. And we're stepping into people swiping their phones instead. Or chips. We're moving quickly away from paper currency.
I can't get enough of this stuff. Just like how often people talk about how Star Trek previewed the flip phone, I'm watching all of this SCI-FI stuff I used to take for granted as a trope (credits tied to you in a virtual way, with no more cash and a cashless society) ... turn into my reality right in front of me.
All because some dudes wanted to sell a horde of platinum pieces in a fantasy video game to some other dudes for a few bucks.
MADNESS!
I hate to point you to visit the site, but the services they offer are a much better value than the legit version in game. Also, they not only sell creds, they sell ships, keys, etc. They wouldn't keep getting customers if that wasn't the case.
As far as identity theft goes, all of these kinds of places use shielded transaction methods (paypal, bitcoin, etc), so that risk is actually minimal. The real risk is getting your account banned because the creds you bought came from some exploit that Cryptic tracked the profits from. That kind of account ban doesn't get an appeal, so all your toons are gone, forever.
I'm pretty sure there is one, buried in the chat settings somewhere. It's in there with the block fleet invites setting I think.
But you can't hate us!
We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
/Closed
PS: Even moderators need some time off at times.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator
"bIghojchugh DaneH, Dumev pagh. bIghojqangbe'chugh, DuQaHlaH pagh."
"Learn lots. Don't judge. Laugh for no reason. Be nice. Seek happiness." ~Day[9]
"Your fun isn't wrong." ~LaughingTrendy
Find me on Twitterverse - @jodarkrider