Count GRI in... (Catskills based)

Give us a day to be there...

Hum much easier to call the gms on the house owner... you dont need to stalk anyone.

So... we're doing this anytime soon?

(imagines 100+ players calling the gms... and getting a reply)

If you did get a reply, the gm would delete all of the items creating such a stir. They could not find "Matt's" account to restore things if they had to.

It happened to me. Not with the item in question - as I said, I did not buy sandals. In fact, I am considering canceling my accounts after 10 years of paying every single month. Needless to say, investing in rares is an extremely risky proposition.... any rares.

Let me know when you want to do it... we raise a multi shard wide protest...

heh speaking of...I have a few things in a box in a box in a box in a box I should probably relieve myself of...

Oh it absolutely is! I wouldn't know the first thing about alot of the items, but even I saw way too many pairs of the sandals for sale. Don't let anyone take your hobby, or your fun away.

How about 5/24 at 10am EST.

I think that if the person who was hacked were to file a police report and link the fact so and so was on their computer and caused damage and intellectual property theft, as mentioned in my last post on this thread.

Perhaps following that course of action would get you more results, because paging a GM and telling them you were hacked will get you this response: Change your passwords, run a full virus scan in safe mode, and file a police report with your local authorities.

They'll also lock the account name in question from ANY ACCESS until this is resolved, as long as he can prove the account was his by confirming simple information, since the account name transfer service costs money and is in the original account holder's name to begin with. A GM can do this (lock the account) in-game.

Only then can this fully be resolved, and letting him get away with it is basically giving free license for him to hack more people. If you want to stop a hacker, take away his freedom and access to any sort of computer.

I'm also going to take this opportunity to remind everyone to never click any link you get through an IM-client message, email, or direct connect for any reason, or download any photos from anyone over the internet you don't know well enough in real life, to personally drive down to their house and kick the crap out of them if they do something like this.

Your friend may have quit UO, but if he didn't report the man to the police, he's allowed the hacker to have his freedom by sitting by and not actioning on something that may very well be a felonious hacking activity.

Notably, in all cases of hacking, it's important to also remember NEVER to format your hard drive (which the police will need to completely evaluate for evidence) immediately after; you destroy the evidence that can be used to find and deliver justice to the hacker.

Additionally, EA/OSI keeps logs of whoever accesses their servers, and from what IP and account. They can deliver these records to the authorities ONLY if the local authorities have a police report filed to request them.

Essentially, they (EA/OSI) know who was on the account, but they're not permitted to disclose it directly to anyone but a legal authority. If someone trojan-horsed or used his computer system to obtain the password, that's another implication for the hacker, legally.

Especially since it sounds like he used a very dumb way of hacking him (dials home to the hacker) and is very easily traceable.

I hope that helps you and your friend make some sense of this, and possibly stop the hacker, if not get your friend's items back.

If all of these steps are followed to the letter, you'll find there's a great potential of pinning and stopping the culprit.

EDIT: it sounds to me, and appears, this is just my speculation; that the hacker could have used the sale as a 'front' and it may have never took place (ie, he posted the sale, insane amounts were bid, obviously giving the appearance of a legit sale, but the red flag may have been the amounts to begin with).

This could just be a tactic used to displace any blame, but the potential flaws are melting through like hot embers on butter. Something smells wrong about the whole situation.

Then again, it may have been a legit purchase, but we cannot debate the fact the items were stolen in the first place, and anyone who has any link to the account or items may find themselves banned or suspended, regardless...this is at EA's discretion.

I think my suggestions above may resolve this once and for all, especially if you guys go and page all at once.

I hate scum, and will use a steel-bristled deck scrubber to remove it's tainted aura from our realm, after we successfully wipe it off the face of britannia.

Great post, Lord Target.

I am a firm believer that one should try every legal avenue when stolen from, whether it's in a game or RL.

Sad thing is EAM is really slacking on this. Most other companies if you report a hack will lock the account immediatly, send the user an email explaining how to unlock the account which usually includes sending proof you're the original owner of the account that is notorized by an official notory.

Also, its so easy in most cases for GM's to find out what went where and to who not to mention to find IP addresses as well because all of that is stored in a database in text. If its not then EAM is really slacking and should definitly consider catching up with the times.

A simple query could tell you who picked up what item or traded what item to who on what day. Give them the date of the attack, the time, and they can query all activity on the account for that time.

In another game, my account got hacked, I reported it, within 10 mins my account was locked and I had an email detailing what I needed to do. On top of that, when I next logged on 7 members of my guild had their accounts perma banned and deleted, no questions asked. I found out later from a friend working at the company as a server admin that these guild members had been the "hackers."

Was pretty amusing to me. Since the incident, I haven't given anyone any passwords for anything of mine. Not even family, because yes, I have lost items in EQ to even family members. People are pathetic. More often than not our own trust is what gets us hacked. Or the use of programs which shouldn't be used. Sad thing is, not many people will admit any of that.