Accounts merging... Anybody else?

[Lauren_ftw]

So I thought I'd ask around and see if this has happened to anybody else on Neopets. It's really strange, and quite awful because it makes me look quite dodgy.

 

Take a look at the picture below.

 

 

(Hopefully it works...)

 

This is my old account which is still up and running. Madam_Muck is my only pet, and strangely enough the youngest there. The other pets are quite old. This account was made by me in mid-late 2009, a completely new account. So it is just over a year old according to the User Page, but the other pets are older, and not mine. Note that one pets user name is in the different language altogether!

 

I cannot access this account. I used to be able to a few months ago. It was then frozen, and then unfrozen and I accessed it, and emailed Neopets and asked why. I recieved no reply. The password then changed, and I recieved automated messages from the Neopets site to say that my password had changed, but then... I stopped recieving emails, my password changed again, I then could not retrieve my password to my email account, and all went very quiet.

 

See, this is a rubbish situation because even though the ages of the pets and the age of the account do not add up, it makes me look dodgy.

I'm an honest player, I'll say that the worst I have done is made my brother send me his items because he did not play anymore - which I then sold and gained around $3500 NP from. He was fine with doing this as well! Confession time over, lol!

 

So it is a very odd situation. My account has been taken over by somebody else, who has since logged in, in the last few days! I am not sure if they even know they are in my account (or they have scammed it) I don't know whether it was the right thing to do or not, but I neomailed the user and haven't recieved a reply.

 

Has this happened to anybody else? I'm quite miffed that Neopets haven't made any contact with me regarding it in the months that I have been trying to contact them. I even emailed the legal department to explain the situation. Recieved, nothing. It's almost like it is in the 'too hard basket' for them, and it's easier to just forget it. I don't want to forget it, I do want my account back, but even if I cannot have it back, i don't care. it's the principle of it all. It's unfair, and as a 22 year old player, I feel cheated as I am an honest user who plays Neopets to kill the boredom every now and then.

 

What to do?

[Fever]

Weell, it sounds like your account was not, in fact merged with another one. I have a feeling someone probably accessed your account. That's probably why you were frozen, for dramatic changes in IP address.

 

This is a very peculiar situation, but that's really the only possible solution I can think of. I've heard of numerous cases where TNT has just ignored cases similar to yours (where they were "hacked" repeatedly). Sorry, but I really do think that someone accessed your account, and just didn't do anything noticeable with it. It sounds strange, but really that's my only idea. I'd just try making another account, anyone else agree?

[Masaryk]

It really sounds like someone has gained access to your account. My best suggestion to you would be to change your email address and password associated with this account. Use a brand new password that no one has a chance of knowing. If you don't want the excess pets, feel free to abandon them.

[Fever]

If I may add to Masaryk's, TDN has a Secure Password Generator application. If you want to keep your current account, I would use that to generate a good password. Or I think you can just abandon your current account to make a totally new one; so long as you NEVER go anywhere near your old one?

[Lauren_ftw]

I can't get in to my account guys, :) this person has changed everything, and the new pets that aren't mine, are older than my account is. I'm not so sure it has been hacked. It's all too odd.

 

I don't think that anybody has scammed me, I think it's a neopets error and there are two innocent parties involved. I cannot explain how those pets are 1000 days old, when my account is only as old as my pet Madam-Muck is, which is 400 odd days old.

 

But thanks anyway :)

 

Just to elaborate, I am using a new account, but it is the basic principle that this is a very odd situation, and the Neopets team aren't paying any attention or are they appearing to be willing to rectify it. If this kind of thing happens to other people, it ruins all level of privacy. I just wish that they would tell me, because if they looked closely enough they would see that it makes no sense to have pets which are three years old, in a one-year old account.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Lauren_ftw

[Anime]

The pet thing is nothing, pets of all ages can be abandoned and adopted by accounts of any age. For example, one of my sides has a Hissi that I adopted, and she's roughly 9 months older than the account itself.

 

It looks to me like the account was hacked and taken over. There's really no other explanation for it.

[Fever]

I can't get in to my account guys, :) this person has changed everything, and the new pets that aren't mine, are older than my account is. I'm not so sure it has been hacked. It's all too odd.

 

I don't think that anybody has scammed me, I think it's a neopets error and there are two innocent parties involved. I cannot explain how those pets are 1000 days old, when my account is only as old as my pet Madam-Muck is, which is 400 odd days old.

 

But thanks anyway :)

 

Just to elaborate, I am using a new account, but it is the basic principle that this is a very odd situation, and the Neopets team aren't paying any attention or are they appearing to be willing to rectify it. If this kind of thing happens to other people, it ruins all level of privacy. I just wish that they would tell me, because if they looked closely enough they would see that it makes no sense to have pets which are three years old, in a one-year old account.

 

The pets age doesn't really matter.. Accounts of any age can adopt pets of any age :P

 

I don't think anyone has necessarily said that you were scammed, but I am pretty sure that all of us so far have said that someone else accessed your account. This kind of thing is not an error on TNT's part, they aren't that ridiculous to freeze multiple times like that.

 

While it might be a bizarre situation, I really do think that someone accessed your account. In a situation like yours, if I was TNT and saw the history of freezing/unfreezing and IP visits, I would probably not respond to tickets like that. It does, in fact, make sense to have pets that are that age on a young account. Right now I could go find an ancient pet that's far older than my almost-3-year-old account and adopt, if I really wanted to. That has nothing to do with it.

 

I would just totally abandon your old account and move "into" a new account. Protect your passwords and take good care of your computer, etc. :)

[Manta]

I agree with everyone above. It looks like someone gained access to your account, and adopted some Grarrls and a Skeith on it. They probably planned to use it as a shell account for ABing, or to sell it to someone else for that purpose. They probably started collecting avatars to make it less dodgy as well. That's a common tactic that cheaters use :/

 

Sorry to see that your old account has been taken. You should just probably forget about it, since there's really nothing else you can do.

[Lauren_ftw]

Thanks for your help guys, it's super frustrating though!

[-Ryan]

I agree, definatley a scam or someone guessed your pass.

 

Good luck with getting your account back, I hope everything works out. ^^

[Fever]

I agree with everyone above. It looks like someone gained access to your account, and adopted some Grarrls and a Skeith on it. They probably planned to use it as a shell account for ABing, or to sell it to someone else for that purpose. They probably started collecting avatars to make it less dodgy as well. That's a common tactic that cheaters use :/

 

Sorry to see that your old account has been taken. You should just probably forget about it, since there's really nothing else you can do.

 

Sadly, that's what I was starting to think as well. No offense, but your account does seem to be minor, I don't know why someone would need your account in particular. There really isn't anything else that you can do, sorry.

 

Thanks for your help guys, it's super frustrating though!

 

Its no problem. I can imagine it would be frustrating. But again, I can only suggest following the advice we've all put together :)

[Alberto of Meridell]

Your account was hacked by someone else. Even though you changed the password and managed to get your account back, the password was changed again, which means that there is some sort of spyware/malware on your computer through which someone is able to see what you're typing in and then using that information to hack your account. The cracker (evil hacker (most "hackers" are good people)) then changed your password, leaving you locked out of the account.

 

Run some antivirus software on your computer and see if you can clean up the stuff that's getting your passwords. Other accounts that you access through the same computer (e.g. bank accounts, credit card accounts) could be compromised/at risk. However, I'm not sure that's how the cracker managed to get your password. You may also have been "Cookie Grabbed" - our guide is here. Read through the guide and install NoScript (link and explanation are in our guide).

 

Also, try to switch to using Mozilla Firefox (the latest version is 3.6). It's much more secure and has less security loopholes than every version of Internet Explorer. Download Firefox here.

 

Oh, NoScript only works with Firefox, by the way.

 

 

So, about the "abnormalities" of your account:

The pets were probably adopted from the pound, or transferred. The pet with the name "ichbinheisse" was originally named that, by the way. Names of neopets are not translated from one language to another - otherwise that pet's name would be displayed as "Iamhot". :P

 

The secret avatars were either collected by the cracker to make the hack seem legitimate, or they were collected by you without you really knowing, since some of them are very easy to get (e.g. by visiting a certain page).

 

The Lutari Talisman shows up on mostly everyone's account. I think you have to visit Lutari Island to get it, but I'm not sure. It doesn't matter either way, since you can't use it anymore.

 

 

 

If you have any more questions regarding this issue, Neopets in general, or some security stuff for your computer (such as other programs/add-ons for Firefox), feel free to PM me! I'll be happy to answer any questions. :)

[Masaryk]

If you plan to abandon the account in favour of starting a new one, I would still send in a ticket to TNT explaining that you believe someone else has gained access to your account. The person with access to your account may be using it to scam other users. If you make a new account, and your old account is being used to scam, then TNT will freeze your new account if they associate your old account with you.

 

Considering that you haven't paid much attention to this account recently, you would probably find it difficult to prove to TNT that this account did belong to you. Nonetheless, you could check out the Account Access form and see if you think you would be able to fill it out accurately.

 

Is it possible that someone you know has gained access to your account? Did you ever share your password with a sibling or friend? If not, it sound like you should take Alberto's advice and start running some spyware and virus scans. Once you are sure your computer is clean, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS FOR EVERYTHING!!! If someone gained access to your Neopets password, they may also have access to your email account and your banking information, especially if the passwords are similar.

[Lauren_ftw]

Thanks, I've done a virus scan and all the rest. It's a bit of a nightmare though because I have messaged Neopets saying I am using my new account and that the old one has been hacked, and haven't recieved anything back. It's kind of violating because I don't want my account to be associated with a hacker, eek!

 

Thanks for all of your help guys, you're great!

[Fever]

Thanks, I've done a virus scan and all the rest. It's a bit of a nightmare though because I have messaged Neopets saying I am using my new account and that the old one has been hacked, and haven't recieved anything back. It's kind of violating because I don't want my account to be associated with a hacker, eek!

 

Thanks for all of your help guys, you're great!

 

I would actually do numerous virus scans, just to be on the safe side. I use Norton and my uncle (who really knows his way around a computer) suggests AVG. Do numerous scans just to make sure you don't miss anything. Clear your cache as well, but that should be OK with just one clearing.

 

Seeing as it's only been a short while, I don't think you would hear back from TNT. There are millions of people on Neopets, and that means a lot of support tickets to respond to.

[Shane for Wax]

CRACKER not hacker. Please don't use hacker like you did. They aren't the same.

 

Also, yeah. Just change everything. It's nothing to do with merging.

[Fever]

Shane, at this point I don't think we have know 100% if it was hacking or cracking. Judging by the information we've got here, it could go either way. Or it could be some form of combination or weird thing going on. *shrug* We may never know :P

 

And in case it is some form of behind-the-scenes type thing where they went "into your computer" type thing, or into your internet, I would really change pretty much everything. If you've got Facebook, Twitter, that sort of thing. Make sure the passwords are impossible for others to guess.

 

Also, if you do use random passwords, like you can generate here, you should keep them ALL written down and organised in a notebook. If you decide to do that, keep that notebook somewhere safe. I suggest having one page for Neopets related information, one page for each email you might have, etc. Whatever you do, do not store your passwords on your computer in case this was a form of hacking.

 

Good luck on your new account, and I hope you hear back from TNT soon. :)

 

* * * * *

 

Some extra helpful stuff you might want to read up on, just to be on the safe side...

 

Password Security Tips

Cookie Grabber Protection This is also possibly a possible cause of this problem. Not totally sure but it's worth a shot to read up about it and see if it's got a chance at being at least part of your ordeal.

Also try NoScript, which is explained on the CG Protection guide I listed above. It only works on Firefox, which can be slow and stupid sometimes, but if you do a lot of petpage/userlookup/lookup/etc browsing, it's a really good idea to have.

[Shane for Wax]

Yes but they aren't the same. :( They just aren't.

[Fever]

True, but combinations are possible.. *shrug*

 

Lauren, have you heard back from TNT yet, or any updates in general?

[Lauren_ftw]

Yes but they aren't the same. :( They just aren't.

 

Sorry, and please excuse my fair, blunt honesty, but whatever they may be - they still need to get a life. Hacker, cracker, whatever... Giving something a title does not excuse or pardon invasion of privacy or theft. :)

 

True, but combinations are possible.. *shrug*

 

Lauren, have you heard back from TNT yet, or any updates in general?

 

No updates whatsoever. I signed up for premium, I emailed via the Premium help, and still haven't recieved a thing - I've asked for the account to be shut down/frozen. Hopefully they will get back to it. I understand that there is a lot of players on Neopets, but to not recieve a reply for well over three months? Not good enough, in my books. I have worked in customer service for years, and i do my darned best to help everybody regardless of whether I have the time or not. It is what sets me aside from the average :) :)

 

I just feel that for somebody that is now 22, and has been playing this on and off since I first found out about it in 2000, should be given a bit more credit, rather than lumped in the 'another one bites the dust' pile. :whistle:

[Fever]

Sorry, and please excuse my fair, blunt honesty, but whatever they may be - they still need to get a life. Hacker, cracker, whatever... Giving something a title does not excuse or pardon invasion of privacy or theft. :)

 

 

 

No updates whatsoever. I signed up for premium, I emailed via the Premium help, and still haven't recieved a thing - I've asked for the account to be shut down/frozen. Hopefully they will get back to it. I understand that there is a lot of players on Neopets, but to not recieve a reply for well over three months? Not good enough, in my books. I have worked in customer service for years, and i do my darned best to help everybody regardless of whether I have the time or not. It is what sets me aside from the average :) :)

 

I just feel that for somebody that is now 22, and has been playing this on and off since I first found out about it in 2000, should be given a bit more credit, rather than lumped in the 'another one bites the dust' pile. :whistle:

 

VERY true! I personally don't see how a human can develop such a strong dislike for someone they may or may not know, especially over the internet. That is an excellent quote!

 

Wow, hope it was just the month but either way it's worth it, haha.

I agree. Over the past maybe week or two alone, I've seen a good amount of people saying that TNT hasn't replied in months... It's rather strange!

 

I agree, again. I guess the main thing here is to stay patient. If something is meant to happen, it'll happen; and vice versa. But hey, now you have a new account to start fresh on, complete with Premium! :)

[Lauren_ftw]

Yeah, I'm not sure I'm seeing the major benefits of premium yet, but I'll complete my 5 day trial and see. Hopefully I hear back from them also, it's difficult right now because of all the stat holidays and such!