The Spam Thread!

[cpd2009]

The depressing thing I recently spoke about.... has gotten worse...

What's happening?

If it's a private issue though, keep it so.

[RAMChYLD]

Thinking of just wiping the remaining 16 videos from my Youtube account, because Google has become an unbearable copyright Nazi.

[Blackberry Bun]

What's happening?

My account in an MMORPG game got stolen and I can't get it back since the thief changed every single detail of it, leaving no trace that it once belonged to me.

I can let it go and start again. However, I just discovered that the thief is now running around in my account scamming other players.

[RAMChYLD]

What's happening?

My account in an MMORPG game got stolen and I can't get it back since the thief changed every single detail of it, leaving no trace that it once belonged to me.

I can let it go and start again. However, I just discovered that the thief is now running around in my account scamming other players.

This is serious. Even if he changed every single detail in it, surely he has overlooked something (say, the usual IP range you connect from. Even if you use Dynamic IP, the entire range will have to belong to a particular telco. It is unlikely that the thief would be using the same ISP as you do from the same town. I suggest contacting the company hosting the game anyway. I mean, they will most likely still have your old data (e-mail address, cellphone number, etc) on record, and if you can proof to them that you are the owner of the account by matching the details of the old data, you can most likely take the account back.

[Blackberry Bun]

Unfortunately, the system is flawed because the game is developed by a Korean company and I play in Indonesian server where a company is assigned to take care of it. The company, being not the developer, is only given limited options for administering accounts and therefore there's no such thing as profile history details for them. This is the answer I got when I came directly to the company's office.

[Angel]

*chants to herself, "Please don't be sick, please don't be sick, please don't be sick.."*

That's a shame about the MMORPG.

Update: Not sick. Phew.

[RAMChYLD]

Unfortunately, the system is flawed because the game is developed by a Korean company and I play in Indonesian server where a company is assigned to take care of it. The company, being not the developer, is only given limited options for administering accounts and therefore there's no such thing as profile history details for them. This is the answer I got when I came directly to the company's office.

I call bulls**t on the company's reply- imo they're trying to shrug off responsibility. If they were worthy, they would get the Korean company involved and try to get to the bottom of this since identity theft is a serious offense. I wouldn't continue playing their game anymore and would move on in this situation (but not before launching a police report regarding identity theft). In fact, as it stands you can even sue them for assisting identity theft and possibly defamation just because they're not doing anything about it, and that the other player in the game is abusing a character with a screen name you usually use.

The Indonesian company only licensed the game from the Korean company. The Indonesian company has full control of the accounts in the game. The Korean company's duty is to just supply the Indonesian company with upgrades of the new version of the game and fix bugs. That's how MapleStory SEA works- Nexon only supplies upgrades and bugfixes to the game. Asiasoft are the ones who manages the accounts.

I do have my problems with Asiasoft tho- for one, corrupt employees with no integrity. I've seen their mods randomly ban people just because they're friends in real life with asshole jerk griefers who tell them who to ban. Do they even screen their employees for criminal records? Do these employees have a supervisor watching over them? Does the supervisor have integrity and is carrying out his duty to ensure the integrity of his employees?

In fact, now that I've thought this far, is it possible that your account was stolen with help from an insider?!?

This is why I don't play region-locked MMO games that are segregated into regions, and insist on truly global ones like DC Universe Online. Because I don't trust the locals to have the integrity to be able to become mod.

[Blackberry Bun]

I get your point, David. But unfortunately this is how bad the situation is in Indonesia regarding on how things work. Even lawsuit is corrupted, I will probably have to spend a fortune to get this down. Better just forget that account altogether and start anew. I know I sound apathetic here, but it's just not worth spending my end-year holiday for this exhausting and money-draining hassle.

And no, I don't think there's any inside help. I actually know a possible cause for this to have happened, but it was partly my own fault.

Anyway, I have another problem now:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://malwaretips.com/blogs/aartemis-portal-site-removal/">http://malwaretips.com/blogs/aartemis-p ... e-removal/</a><!-- m -->

Is this legit? My brother's computer is infected with this, but the necessity to install some other software to remove the infection makes me hesitate.

[huckleberrypie]

Besides the fact that most Asian MMOs use draconian anti-cheat measures like GameGuard, which hook into the Windows API in a rootkit-esque fashion. It ain't necessarily malicious but from what we know like what happened to the Sony XCP scandal, it's ludicrous. Not to mention that GG-protected games end up getting hacked anyway.

As for Sandy's malware problem, have you tried running Combofix or Malwarebytes?

[RAMChYLD]

I get your point, David. But unfortunately this is how bad the situation is in Indonesia regarding on how things work. Even lawsuit is corrupted, I will probably have to spend a fortune to get this down. Better just forget that account altogether and start anew. I know I sound apathetic here, but it's just not worth spending my end-year holiday for this exhausting and money-draining hassle.

I understand (and to be honest, it's not much different here in Malaysia- hence my apathy towards MapleStory and other locally-hosted MMOs). I'm not saying that you should sue them, it's just an option. However, the thing I'm worried about is identity theft- the thief has your account, and is using it to spoil your name.

And no, I don't think there's any inside help. I actually know a possible cause for this to have happened, but it was partly my own fault.

Noted.

Anyway, I have another problem now:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://malwaretips.com/blogs/aartemis-portal-site-removal/">http://malwaretips.com/blogs/aartemis-p ... e-removal/</a><!-- m -->

Is this legit? My brother's computer is infected with this, but the necessity to install some other software to remove the infection makes me hesitate.

I agree with Blake on this. Boot into safe mode and run ComboFix (ComboFix is most effective in safe mode since the malware will be dormant as Windows won't start it. You don't have to install it, just reboot into safe mode and double click on the program to run it), then run a MalwareBytes scan once Combofix is complete before restarting Windows back to normal mode. That should be enough to remove the malware.