What should I do?

[DJFyrewolf36]

I got an email the other day from one of my online hang outs saying I was banned for password scamming. Until I got this email, nothing seemed wrong with my account (no spam messages, admin emails etc). I emailed the admis asking what exactly was going on, as I figured if I got hacked the information would be usefull in helping me prevent this happening to other online accounts. I keep getting the run around though. I let them know the last time I logged on myself as they asked for that information as well as my username...the only reply I got back was that I was banned. I KNEW this! I want to know what exactly happened though. I sent them an email re-itterating this and also told them that I thought I deserved some explination as I have donated money to this site in the past. I read the terms of service carefully, and according to them they can delete/ban an account for any or no reason. They said in thier email that password scamming is a direct TOS violation and is an imidiate ban offense but the funny thing is is that there is no mention of password scamming in the TOS whatsoever. The only password things they mention is that if your password is compromised its YOUR responsibility to fix it, not thiers.

I'm gussing because thier TOS says they can ban/delete for no reason that they legally don't have to explain anything and can just ban my account and take the money I've already paid them. I was wondering though, if there was any way I can at least make them take everything assoiciated with my account off of thier servers as I have links to my music site and my myspace page on my profile. I don't want who/whatever is messing with my account to start messing with my other internet accounts too and right now I can't log in to delete anything.

Any advice would be helpful! Also, if something odd starts happening with my account here, I would appriciate it if anyone notices to email me and PM Karen about it. Anything odd at all, I don't care how minor it is. Don't be afraid about bugging me, I'm trying to get to the bottom of this. Hopefully this is just an isolated thing but it never hurts to be too careful!

[Aspen and Misty]

I don't know what to tell you and I'm sorry this is happening to you. It's so rude of the admins to not tell you exactly why you were banned.

If it were me though, I would change all my passwords to one I have never used before. I would choose 2 words and a set of number.

For instance, since I have two dogs, Nova and Konnor and Konnor's birthday is 12/14 my password could be Novakonnor1214 . It's nearly impossible for someone else to figure out what the password is because it's not 1 word, or just a set of number but it's also easy for me to remember. Useing this method should keep you safe.

I hope this helps,
Ashley

[Catty1]

Hopefully Karen or Paul can give you some insight.

Does the friend who emailed you have any idea who it is?

All I can think of is reporting this to your IP, but I don't really know what they could do but dispense advice.

Maybe in a couple of months, reapply with a new screen name. If the password abuse has STILL been going on, they'll know it's not you, and may re-admit you.

It IS really rude that they don't give you an answer or explanation!

Good luck with this.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I got an email from the site admin "team" advising me of being banned. Ever since I began talking with them to figure this out, I don't think Ive corrisponded with the same person twice :p. I've already changed some less than stable passwords (especially the ones that were the same as the account in question!)

Thanks for listening to me rant. Grrr, I know this shouldnt upset me (it is just the internet) but It makes me angry that Ive paid a company just to treat me badly.

[Karen]

I'd look up whoever owns the site, and email him or her directly, and ask what happened. Explain that you are afraid your account was compromised, and that you need them to remove information from your profile there for that reason. Ask if they can delete your account there, or at the very least, remove all contact information and links from your profile.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I'd look up whoever owns the site, and email him or her directly, and ask what happened. Explain that you are afraid your account was compromised, and that you need them to remove information from your profile there for that reason. Ask if they can delete your account there, or at the very least, remove all contact information and links from your profile.

Thanks for the advice! That is an idea I didn't think of. Maybe if I go the site owners I'll get a better response than from the admin "staff"

[Laura's Babies]

HUmmm... It just ticks me off that people have to mess with other people like that. They don't need a reason, they just do it because they can. Hacking into other peoples account is just a game to them and they don't need a reason to do it... Have no doubt, they will pay for it someday! That old saying "what goes around, comes around" is SO true.... Someone will hack them one day and screw them up!

[AbbyMom]

What is password scamming?

I'm kinda confused because it sounds like you are the victim of password scamming.

Are they saying you figured out someone else's password and used it maliciously on the site?

[Daisy and Delilah]

What is password scamming?

I'm kinda confused because it sounds like you are the victim of password scamming.

Are they saying you figured out someone else's password and used it maliciously on the site?

I wanted to ask the same question. Thanks :)

[JuniorxMyxLove]

ughhh that stinks! Luckily I do really random things...like once my password for something was limegreen34 bc i like the number 34 and my phone was sitting next to me (lime green cover), so my password has never been hacked..well it had on another stupid site i was going to quit anyways but that was a long time ago.
I would listen to karen and email the owner directly.

I hope you can get this sorted out!!

[DJFyrewolf36]

Basically, password scamming is making a "fake" site that looks like a legitamate login request and posting it, and then re-directing site members to the fake site to make them re-log in. Instead of actually logging into the site, the victim is typing in their information to the fake site which is sent to the scammer. That way, the scammer has the login info to use for whatever purposes they want. Usually to make it look real, the victim is then bounced to the regular site as if they logged in, even though they may not have been logged out to begin with. Making a password scam site look real takes a lot of work and usually involves hacking the legitimate website in order to make the fake page look convincing and to get users re-directed. Myspace had a real problem with this a few months back as I recall.

I hope that makes sense! Password scamming isn't only immoral, its quite illigal especially when it comes to sites that involve money. I basically found out though that anyone on the site I was on can accuse someone of password scamming and without investigation, the site can ban the accused member. Honestly, I think an accusation this sirious demands investigation (especially since it involves someone "ripping off" parts of the site) but really with as many hacking/scamming complaints as this site gets, I'm sure the admins (Who are unpaid I found out) don't really want to take the time to investigate every complaint.

I'm not sure if I was the victim of a password scam or if I was just falsely accused. According to the terms of service, the admins don't have to tell me either way. They really did write the use agreement in their favor. If I get anything out of this, its that before signing up for a site READ the TOS carefully to see what rights as a member you have, as realistically sites can write service agreements that basically give you no rights at all but if you click that I agree thing when you sign up there isn't a thing you can do about it after the fact.