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Anne Nomilly · 14th September 2005, 05:23 AM

An update. After a hellish day and watching the castle be systematically stripped, the castle and account have been returned to the rightful owner. EA verified the account was hacked and this is now being pursued thru law enforcement. Not sure what, if anything, will come of that but the owner is pursuing it as far as he can go.

We spoke with the "new owner" last nite who, while stripping the castle, swore up and down he bought it. He said he bought it in game but then said he paid $400 cash for it. We told him it was hacked, that the owner was a personal real life friend and we knew for a fact that it had been hacked. He stated he didn't care. It was his. In fact, he sped up his efforts to strip the castle. He even stated that he told a friend about the awesome deal he got. The friend told him the account was probably stolen and his response was "w/e" which I assume means "whatever". Many of the items he stripped are now sitting on his vendor.

If, indeed he "bought" the account from the real hacker, then he will unfortunately probably be the one to take the rap for this.

I'd like to share some things with you that every person here should think about. Some things we learned. First, yes, run a complete virus scan. Run a scan for spyware and trojans. If you have a firewall, set the security to TIGHT. If you don't have a firewall, GET ONE. If you have a router and a firewall, even better. Check your UO account information monthly and change your passwords. NEVER log into your UO account from a computer that you are not SURE is completely safe. If you do, when you get to a secure computer, reset your password. And, the ONE thing that saved the castle on the account, have someone OTHER than YOU set up a vendor at your house. Nothing needs to be on the vendor but set the vendor to auto renew at no charge. As long as someone besides YOU has a vendor in your house, your house can NOT be transferred off the account.

EA will not return items and, had the castle been transferred off the account, that would have been gone for good. We will deal with the losses and I sincerely thank everyone who offered help and support. We will probably never be able to replace some of the rares and vet rewards that were stripped from this account. Over time, we will rebuild the resources.

The important thing is that the account was returned to the rightful owner and a castle that he put his heart and soul into is still there. The MOST important thing is that our friends are safe. The rest, while very hurtful, we will deal with.

14th September 2005, 05:23 AM	#5 (permalink)
Anne Nomilly Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187 Gold: 1,015 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Life's Funny Sometimes.......... An update. After a hellish day and watching the castle be systematically stripped, the castle and account have been returned to the rightful owner. EA verified the account was hacked and this is now being pursued thru law enforcement. Not sure what, if anything, will come of that but the owner is pursuing it as far as he can go. We spoke with the "new owner" last nite who, while stripping the castle, swore up and down he bought it. He said he bought it in game but then said he paid $400 cash for it. We told him it was hacked, that the owner was a personal real life friend and we knew for a fact that it had been hacked. He stated he didn't care. It was his. In fact, he sped up his efforts to strip the castle. He even stated that he told a friend about the awesome deal he got. The friend told him the account was probably stolen and his response was "w/e" which I assume means "whatever". Many of the items he stripped are now sitting on his vendor. If, indeed he "bought" the account from the real hacker, then he will unfortunately probably be the one to take the rap for this. I'd like to share some things with you that every person here should think about. Some things we learned. First, yes, run a complete virus scan. Run a scan for spyware and trojans. If you have a firewall, set the security to TIGHT. If you don't have a firewall, GET ONE. If you have a router and a firewall, even better. Check your UO account information monthly and change your passwords. NEVER log into your UO account from a computer that you are not SURE is completely safe. If you do, when you get to a secure computer, reset your password. And, the ONE thing that saved the castle on the account, have someone OTHER than YOU set up a vendor at your house. Nothing needs to be on the vendor but set the vendor to auto renew at no charge. As long as someone besides YOU has a vendor in your house, your house can NOT be transferred off the account. EA will not return items and, had the castle been transferred off the account, that would have been gone for good. We will deal with the losses and I sincerely thank everyone who offered help and support. We will probably never be able to replace some of the rares and vet rewards that were stripped from this account. Over time, we will rebuild the resources. The important thing is that the account was returned to the rightful owner and a castle that he put his heart and soul into is still there. The MOST important thing is that our friends are safe. The rest, while very hurtful, we will deal with.