Hackers/Phishers, be aware.

[wexpo]

I don't play runescape anymore, cuz it's a pre-puberty-teen's game, or has become atleast (Ever since Wildy removal). But I still follow the changes of the game, both on the official website as here in Sythe.org.

Haven't seen this posted before, but I figured I might as well "educate" some of you kids. (And you are)

A British man has been arrested and cautioned for stealing accounts for online game Runescape.

Jagex, creator of Runescape, said it was likely to be the first of several arrests as it tackled in-game fraud.

Online game Runescape has more than 100 million active players and play revolves around collecting and spending virtual cash and loot.

The company said it was working with UK police and the FBI to track down and catch those targeting Runescape.

Crime trail

A statement from the Police National e-crime unit said: "A 23-year-old man was arrested in Avon and Somerset on the morning of Tuesday 24 November by officers from the Police Central e-crime Unit, on suspicion of a number of computer misuse offences."

The offences are believed to be for using phishing e-mails to trick people into handing over login details for Runescape accounts.
Screenshot from Aion, NCSoft
Hi-tech thieves target online games because virtual goods are easy to launder

Once hi-tech thieves have these credentials they plunder the accounts, strip characters of their items and sell off the rare virtual goods for Runescape gold. This virtual money can be traded to others in-game or sold for real world cash.

Current underground exchange rates suggest that 2m Runescape gold costs about £6 ($10).

"We have pinned down and identified the handful of ring leaders and we are going after them with both barrels," Mark Gerhard, chief executive of Jagex told BBC News.

"Any online games company will tell you that as soon as the game has value, there's a very small foreign element that tries to exploit that value," he said.

Mr Gerhard said the arrest on 24 November was not the result of something that happened the day before. It was one result, he said, of a long term investigation that had sought out those behind the phishing attack that caught out a "few thousand" Runescape players.

The biggest audience for Runescape is in the US and UK and Mr Gerhard said it was working with forces in both nations to track down the virtual thieves. He predicted that there would be more arrests as Jagex knew the handful of people behind the crimes and where they were based.

Laundering cash

Trade in Runescape game gold is against the terms and conditions of the game and Jagex has made many changes to its underlying code to stamp out gold farming in which players repeat activities that generate lots of virtual cash or valuable items.

Mr Gerhard said its efforts to tackle gold-farming may have forced the thieves to try a different approach.

"Once you close one vulnerability you move the attack surface to another part," he said. Jagex's efforts to tackle farming had removed 90% of the problem, said Mr Gerhard.

"They were going directly after the user credentials and trying to get at the wealth that way," he said.

"Players invest years of time and effort into developing their Runescape character so the theft of a Runescape account shouldn't be treated differently to the theft of any other valuable possessions such as a games console, television or car," he said.

Alisdair Faulkner, a computer security expert at ThreatMetrix, said it was seeing many more hi-tech thieves turn to stealing virtual rather than real goods.

Virtual goods were much easier to launder and dispose of than tangible items such as flat screens and computers, he said. It was a particular problem in Asia where the sales of virtual game goods were well established.

Many thieves stole credentials from networks of hijacked home computers - known as botnets - or used them as proxies to make the theft look like it was coming from a legitimate source.

"For some of these botnets their sole purpose is to act as a gateway to help fraudsters," he said.

ISPs, merchants and other firms were using ways to pierce a proxy and find out who was really in charge of it, said Mr Faulkner

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8386003.stm

The second you're doing something against Jagex' rules, you're breaking the law. Most of you kids don't realize the impact, and probably think: "This will never happen to me", and as a matter of fact, it probably won't, but don't get mistaken on the impact scamming people's acount might have.

Offcourse, there are only small fish here on Sythe, so this doesn't apply as much for you as it does for some other Runescape-hack communities, but I'm just letting you guys know...

 

[Mattjew]

I don't play runescape anymore, cuz it's a pre-puberty-teen's game, or has become atleast (Ever since Wildy removal). But I still follow the changes of the game, both on the official website as here in Sythe.org.

Haven't seen this posted before, but I figured I might as well "educate" some of you kids. (And you are)




Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8386003.stm

The second you're doing something against Jagex' rules, you're breaking the law. Most of you kids don't realize the impact, and probably think: "This will never happen to me", and as a matter of fact, it probably won't, but don't get mistaken on the impact scamming people's acount might have.

Offcourse, there are only small fish here on Sythe, so this doesn't apply as much for you as it does for some other Runescape-hack communities, but I'm just letting you guys know...

This is the third time this has been posted. Also, the only time you're breaking real world laws is when you commit fraud/phish accounts.. I'd like to see your claim of Jagex's rules being law hold up in court.

"pmg he calld me a no0b!1" - yeah, no.

 

[Runescape_Mod]

thanks for posting this... i dont do any of this but hopefully it will teach other people

 

[Jimmy]

The second you're doing something against Jagex' rules, you're breaking the law. Most of you kids don't realize the impact, and probably think: "This will never happen to me", and as a matter of fact, it probably won't, but don't get mistaken on the impact scamming people's acount might have.

Offcourse, there are only small fish here on Sythe, so this doesn't apply as much for you as it does for some other Runescape-hack communities, but I'm just letting you guys know...

That surely must be a joke. Breaking the rules of an online game isn't illegal- setting up a phishing site and stealing copyright images and the website layout is. He wasn't arrested for "breaking the rules of runescape" (lol), but for breaking the law.

 

[crispycream]

Hope I don't get jailed for swearing XD.

 

[white_razor0]

Lol, i've been given life for offensive language

 

[wexpo]

That surely must be a joke. Breaking the rules of an online game isn't illegal- setting up a phishing site and stealing copyright images and the website layout is. He wasn't arrested for "breaking the rules of runescape" (lol), but for breaking the law.

Yes, cuz in the law it says you can't steal Runescape acounts...

The trade of virtual items for real money is completely legal, as long as it allowed by the in-game rules.

Thus, the same analogy can be said about stealing someone's acounts. In essence, an acount isn't something physical, and therefor can not be stolen. In the law (The belgian law, and I assume most other laws), there is no clause yet which represents in-game money. (Not to be confused with real money such as Paypal)

It is only because it is against Jagex' rules, it is illegal. Whenever you make a new acount, you have to a sign a contract with Jagex. Read that contract...

 

[unique god]

Lol, i've been given life for offensive language

Same, although I macro'ed IRL. No need to post this thread again and the people from here aren't dumb enough to post what they phished.

 

[R oc K]

The BBC is fucking retarded...100 million active players my fuckin ass pussy.

World of Warcraft brags about 10 million, being the largest MMORPG in existence.

Which leads me to the conclusion that the writers of this article, are fucking retarded.

 

[EvanC]

Ah, I just love people like you. This has been posted at least 3 other times now, also this looks so much like bullshit.. 100 million players? Ya, okay show me those statistics, please. Also just breaking a rule IN GAME is not breaking the law.. It's just breaking Jagex's rules, anyways phishing/hacking is illegal anytime not just in Runescape.. Sites like Sythe do not get targeted because we don't support stealing others accounts, which is why places like the TaintedOnes were always bugged with reports about Jagex "suing" them. Just get the hell out of here, also "pre-pub-teens"? Alright kid, how old are you anyways? 14? On another note, Wilderness is back and it's called Bounty Hunter, which is located in Edgeville, which is the Wilderness.

 

[`Mike`]

Oh god help me now. I've been phishing and bruting accounts since the beginning of time. FBI, United Nations, Please don't hurt me! :'(


You people make me fucking laugh. Hardcore :laugh:

 

[jerishow]

lol i wonder if this is really real but seems funny anyways lol

 

[wexpo]

I am slightly amused by the intelligence level of Sythe users. You'dd expect it to equally evolve with the community as they grow older, because the people posting in it get older, but this clearly is not the case.

100 Million, 10 Million: If you read an article that 100M jews died during WW2, would you immediatly stop reading it, and claiming it to be a false article?

It's just a number, you get the idea...

On top of that, Runescape HAS over 100M players, as each acount should be treated like a different player. Since (Well in the old days) NO acounts of the same person were allowed to share items/wealth, every acount had an invidual "person" playing it. So in this aspect, EVERY acount = 1 person.

WoW hasn't got that many acounts, because...

*drums*

It costs money... In Runescape, anyone can quickly make an acount, and then leave it at that if they're done with it. With WoW, you actually have to purchase your initial month/2 months, so people won't just make new acounts "for the lolz".

So having over 100M "players" is simply assuming Jagex' follow their own rules.

Also, mike:

Posting a phishing link, or brute forcing some acounts doesn't make you a hacker. It makes you a kid who found some tools and guides on the interwebs.

If you read the article carefully, you'll find that we're dealing with botnets here. Which means the guy in question had a RAT on each computer, which in it's turn means this guy KNEW what he was doing.

And if you read my initial post, you would have understand that this doesn't apply to small fish.

The same way the FBI doesn't care if you steal a bread out of your local baker, they don't care if you steal some random dudes acount. It only becomes a problem when you start to get organized.

And concidering there never has been lawsuit against an individual person, which now there is, I'dd like to give out warning for the more serious hackers out there, who don't follow the news.

 

[rockz]

you wont go too prison for it lol

 

[`Mike`]

Also, mike:

Posting a phishing link, or brute forcing some acounts doesn't make you a hacker. It makes you a kid who found some tools and guides on the interwebs.

If you read the article carefully, you'll find that we're dealing with botnets here. Which means the guy in question had a RAT on each computer, which in it's turn means this guy KNEW what he was doing.

And if you read my initial post, you would have understand that this doesn't apply to small fish.

The same way the FBI doesn't care if you steal a bread out of your local baker, they don't care if you steal some random dudes acount. It only becomes a problem when you start to get organized.

And concidering there never has been lawsuit against an individual person, which now there is, I'dd like to give out warning for the more serious hackers out there, who don't follow the news.

OH MY GOD! I totaly doubted the article, Botnets?! Really?! Ok, You're going to tell me right now that Botnets are srs hack0r skillz and people know what they're doing? You have got to be trying to amuse me right now. I can build a 1000 zcomp botnet through limewire in an hour, a torrent site would increase that 3 fold. I still stick with my original statement, PLEASE DONT HURT ME! :'( Lol'd

Oh, and how do you learn without using a guide, or learning from another person? You really think every "********", as you like to call them, opened up DOS and magically learned protocols and how to take over a network? You must be fucking stupid. Now get out of my internet.

 

[EvanC]

I am slightly amused by the intelligence level of Sythe users. You'dd expect it to equally evolve with the community as they grow older, because the people posting in it get older, but this clearly is not the case.

100 Million, 10 Million: If you read an article that 100M jews died during WW2, would you immediatly stop reading it, and claiming it to be a false article?

It's just a number, you get the idea...

On top of that, Runescape HAS over 100M players, as each acount should be treated like a different player. Since (Well in the old days) NO acounts of the same person were allowed to share items/wealth, every acount had an invidual "person" playing it. So in this aspect, EVERY acount = 1 person.

WoW hasn't got that many acounts, because...

*drums*

It costs money... In Runescape, anyone can quickly make an acount, and then leave it at that if they're done with it. With WoW, you actually have to purchase your initial month/2 months, so people won't just make new acounts "for the lolz".

So having over 100M "players" is simply assuming Jagex' follow their own rules.

Also, mike:

Posting a phishing link, or brute forcing some acounts doesn't make you a hacker. It makes you a kid who found some tools and guides on the interwebs.

If you read the article carefully, you'll find that we're dealing with botnets here. Which means the guy in question had a RAT on each computer, which in it's turn means this guy KNEW what he was doing.

And if you read my initial post, you would have understand that this doesn't apply to small fish.

The same way the FBI doesn't care if you steal a bread out of your local baker, they don't care if you steal some random dudes acount. It only becomes a problem when you start to get organized.

And concidering there never has been lawsuit against an individual person, which now there is, I'dd like to give out warning for the more serious hackers out there, who don't follow the news.

Shut the fuck up, you're telling us our intelligence level is low? While on the other hand you're grammar skills are as low as a second grader? My god, also you have no idea what a hacker is if you really think that a botnet is hacking hardcore. Like Mike said, I could set up a botnet within an hours period. Get the fuck off Sythe.

 

[drainingpower]

Yeah, this kid is obviously in trouble just for the botnetting it seems, but all those things he has done are dumb, and why would you do that for a game.

 

[Jimmy]

Yes, cuz in the law it says you can't steal Runescape acounts...

The trade of virtual items for real money is completely legal, as long as it allowed by the in-game rules.

Thus, the same analogy can be said about stealing someone's acounts. In essence, an acount isn't something physical, and therefor can not be stolen. In the law (The belgian law, and I assume most other laws), there is no clause yet which represents in-game money. (Not to be confused with real money such as Paypal)

It is only because it is against Jagex' rules, it is illegal. Whenever you make a new acount, you have to a sign a contract with Jagex. Read that contract...

It has nothing to do with the trade of runescape accounts (breaking the rules of an online game isn't illegal!). He was arrested for phishing, because phishing is illegal, both because you are fraudulently presenting yourself as a party that you are not, and, in doing so, you are stealing copyright images, and things of the like.