I'm so worried! I accepted an expensive item from a NeoFriend but...

[lilshadowdweller]

Alright, so today, randomly, a NeoFriend of mine sent me a rare item. It was so random.

 

I accepted it, asked them, "Why?" They said really quickly; "Because I'm quitting do something with it, sell it, or use it". Then they self-froze themselves.

 

Could it have been a scammer on their account? I honestly DID NOT know this friend had any intention on leaving, and it happened so fast...I really wouldn't want to get into trouble but now I think I shouldn't have accepted it.

 

I haven't sold it. I'm worried. I'll keep it until I hear from her but I'm so confused...

[Crimson]

Is this a relatively new acquantance or a longstanding friend?

[lilshadowdweller]

We've known each other for like a month or two, we've sent NeoMails back and fourth and we corresponded through the boards. She sent me a NeoMail like last week to congratulate me for an MSPP. She's a friend, not a close-close, but was always a friend.

[maku]

Try sending a ticket to TNT? I think that's the best thing to do right now. I have a friend who got frozen because someone sent her a Chokato (TCG) (the sender was a scammer). She never accepted it though as it was still in the gift area but she was nonetheless frozen. However, she sent a ticket afterwards and got her account back after 2-3 days. :)

[lilshadowdweller]

Oh wow, they froze her even when she hadn't accepted? I accepted, so I don't know! I did NeoMail her asking her WHY, and "she" responded. :S I took a screen shot of the NeoMail, just in case. And I have not sold the item. It's in my safety. I'd definitely give a ticket. But it may also be her...

[maku]

Well, since the sender responded and you got a screenie of the message that she was quitting, then there is no need to worry. :) If things get bad, you have an evidence right there. :)

[Jacky]

Well, since the sender responded and you got a screenie of the message that she was quitting, then there is no need to worry. :) If things get bad, you have an evidence right there. :)

 

not to burst anyones bubble, but I can tell my friend that I will send him or her an item and they need to nm me saking why, etc...

 

Best thing is just send in a ticket and hope for the best. At least you didn't sell it, plus that way you made them aware of the fact, which will look good for you. TNT will believe what they WANT to believe anyway.

 

Still, I think you should be good. I think the person mentioned above, that was frozen without accepting, was just frozen to make sure they wouldn't accept and move around a (known or unknown to them) scammed item even further. Like putting a safeblock in a line of domino's so to speak. ;)

[lilshadowdweller]

I should have waited. I didn't know at the time it was worth as much as it was, though? I found out after she gave me the NeoMail...

[HuggleMonster]

Wow, sounds scary. I would at least notify TNT and keep it in your possession until things are sussed out.

[Xepha]

One of my friend quitted last week. He neomailed me and said to bid on all his trades. (It contained paint brushes, codestones and other valuable things. Nothing extremely rare though.)

 

My account is still fine :P

 

It does happen that people decide to quit, on an impulsion. And they would just look at who is online in their neofriends' list and give away stuff.

 

So you won't necessary get in troubles for this.

[nURLo]

I believe your saving grace right now is that you actually have proof from the nm and the screen shot. I wouldn't sweat it. It would look more suspicious if you have received the item and immediately sold it.

[Wolf Child]

A very common way hackers transport goods is by spammailing to hundreds accounts and then layering them like a web so it's hard to catch them. The farther they get the items away from the original source, the higher chance they have of keeping some of those items for selling later. All of this happens extremely quickly.

Once they've cracked into an account they'll look you over and decide wether or not to make a move. Most use a link list made available in their communities, kind of like what we use here on TDN to do our dailies faster. If they decide to make the hit the first thing they do is lock you out - some do it while you're still logged in because they like the 'sense of urgency,' others will wait until you've logged out or become inactive for the night - then they dump the items and go on a sendspree. From there TNT has to find out which accounts have the items, and more often than not a large majority are gone before they get there. This is when you find people on trade chat refusing to buy from shells but what you want to look for is how fast they want to deal with you. If they're not willing to wait a few minutes to sell, the person is trying to get the item off their hands and into currency because changing the item into currency/other items often confuses the hounds. ((If you have the right shops set up, you can disperse the money into millions of different directions in moments.)) By this time the account is either self frozen or the TNT shows up.

 

When I say they have hundreds of accounts at their disposal I mean it, and a large number of those accounts are inactive shells they cracked into well before the event.

 

What you also see during these exchanges is them throwing items in completely random directions - including at people on the account's friendlist or posting on the boards that they're hosting a giveaway. People who've worked really hard to earn the money to buy those items won't usually want to just give them away, even if they quit, so be suspicious before taking anything from someone especially if it's a person you've never spoken to before. The reason they're doing it is to create a buffer of random accounts that TNT will freeze over the accounts that are actually them. TNT doesn't know which are which in these instances - they're trying to stop the person as fast as they can. They don't have time to check. For every second TNT wastes freezing an innocent person, that's a second they can use to bump the item a couple of inches out of sight.

 

So we learn 3 things here:

A: If you're going to give away to friends never do it in bundles, particularly if the items are in high value. This will often set off those 'alarms' and make the TNT suspect you as an invader dumping items. Just go slow, they'll get the items when they get them; and grats on being a cool person.

Also keep in open nm contact with the friend that you're giving the items to, even if it's someone from an outside site that you talk to on a regular basis so it doesn't look like you're just moving goods around. This leaves distinct evidence for TNT to pick through if/when TNT goes to investigate.

B: If you're not sure if your friend has been hacked into or they're acting funny ((as in, completely not like themselves)), send a message to TNT. The faster they get to the account, the faster they can bring things to pause so it can be reviewed.

C: Shells are tricky. I use a shell for trading because people are so hard to deal with when money becomes involved and because if I'm selling a valuable item and they decide to hack in to see if they can get shinies of me all my stuff/pets/friends remain secure. As a general rule, if someone won't wait for your custom don't do business with them. I know it's hard and you're so excited that you finally raised enough money for [insertitemhere], but take your time.

If the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

 

I hope that helps. :D

 

((edit: I can count I swear XD))