random444444 requesting a pardon for; Selling stolen accounts

• Your profile link: random444444
• Report/post/reason that got you banned: Selling stolen accounts - Selling Minecraft OG accounts
• Proof of contacting victims for repayment or repayment of victims: I have sent emails to all linked emails explaining them how to recover their lost minecraft accounts. I took a picture but I'd rather not post it public, I guess a mod can contact me on discord..?
• Anything you weren't banned for but want to confess to now: none
• Detailed description of the events that took place and why you think we should forgive you: read below
• Did you fully read and follow this sticky thread in the pardon section?: Yes.
• Previous pardon link(s) if applicable: none

Okayyy I have just gotten myself in some deep deep trouble

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right section?

First things first

My name is random444444, and I have fucked up.

Here goes...

About a week ~ a week and a half ago I did indeed set up a thread advertising the sale prospects of Minecraft accounts. Within the thread, I stated the accounts were cracked; and yes, they are. Let me explain by dwelling in the world of Mojang account security...

Chapter 1: How I got the accounts

The time is 2013, and I'm a fairly active MINECRAFT player. Yeah. Whatever. I played on a large minigame server.
Cheating (dubbed hacking) in that game has and will always be a massive thing, as Mojang rarely bothers patching any client-side exploits. Although I personally didn't cheat, through friends of friends I knew some who did. Back then, most cheats were quite blatant, and so if you wished to cheat, you needed to somehow get at least a few accounts in order to circumvent server-wide bans.

One of those people posted a list of user-pass combos he bought into the teamspeak lounge we were in. Thinking quickly, me and a group of friends kept it as our own personal stash of accounts to do whatever with! I don't remember if I'm the one who found out or if it was someone else, but we realized early that those user-pass combos were actually public. Like, REALLY public. Here's a very stupid article dated 2015 that shows exactly how bad Mojang account security was. People dumped accounts on PUBLIC PASTEBINS; and they NEVER got locked. That had been ongoing since when the game got popular in 2011.

Chapter 2: How I squatted the accounts

I do like to use the term "squatting" for this situation... I didn't break into the accounts; someone else did and left the door open for all kids to come play inside. The accounts still are owned by someone, I just happen to be squatting it as said owner isn't present to boot me out. All of the accounts have linked emails. (rightful owner emails)
Back before Mojang tightened up their systems, in order to change an accounts password, you needed to answer a security question. (You'd set 3, and you only needed 1) If there were no security questions, you could change it instantly which means those weren't dumped nor would last very long.
We (me & friends) slowly but surely guessed the answers on a handful of accounts. s/o to the kid who's favorite game was minecraft. If we guessed the answer, then we could change the password.

Chapter 2.1: The names

Mojang released all names hung up on made but unpaid Minecraft accounts on the 4th of Feburary, 2015. Some of my friends stayed up all night to grab dubbed ""OG"" names, because, well, why not. We knew it was coming (it was announced), and we thought to ourselves: why not use these stupid public accounts we have to hold names? So we did. We never actually did anything with those accounts, and over the years a majority were taken back by their owners.

Chapter 3: Today

I haven't touched Minecraft in a while, and neither have any of the friends I still have contact with. I've been holding those accounts... What I mean to say is that I've grown accustomed to having those accounts, that to me, I had forgotten they weren't actually mine. I know it sounds dumb, but I've had those accounts in my possession since at least a year before names were released, and that release happened over 2 years and 9 months ago... Damn time goes quick.
I wanted to sell them, because why not? They're just sitting there, I don't use them. My thought process was simple, hey, I have $thing I don't use, lets sell it and make someone else happy. Not like the original account owner loses anything I guess. I could blame it on the fact I was tired, I was busy, I didn't know the rules blah blah but it's not that.


To wrap this appeal up...

Jesus f'in Christ I wrote a wall of text. I went ahead and re-read the Sythe rules, and although I couldn't find any direct mention of Selling stolen accounts I'll assume we're talking Malicious Off-site activities. (or not?)
I'm very aware Sythe is not a black-hat forum/black-hat trading platform. I'm also aware it does not condone selling stolen goods. What I did was obviously - and clearly against the Sythe rules and I am truly sorry for breaking them. I didn't mean to cause harm, nor do I ever engage in actions that cause harm to Sythe and non-Sythe users. I've always been respectful towards all, even if we are allowed to speak as we wish.
I have reasons to assume this has already done a round in the globals circle so it must have been decided to deal the permanent ban. That being said, I'd really like to put emphasis on the fact that I didn't hijack those accounts; both that I don't hijack accounts at all, nor that I do such thing for profit. I really meant no harm in doing this. :\


Note regarding the accounts:
Just to be concise, since I wrote a whole lot... The accounts were cracked by others. I don't know how or why, but they got them by the thousand. They took their lists and shared them. Those lists would leak and appear on public websites, such as but not limited to pastebin-ish websites and forums. Me and "my boys" would come around and compile those lists and manually check which accounts worked, and stockpile them. We'd also try to guess security questions to change the password, as anyone else could use those accounts while we did. All while this happened, the original owner still has inherent control of his account has you cannot just unlink the account email. The accounts were simply inactive.
I like to think I didn't cause any further harm, as those accounts were not only already hijacked but also had their credentials publicly leaked. I guess that's subjective though. I never bought account logins.

Sincerely,

Your Jim

https://i.imgur.com/kcpYd6a.gif

 

Hey Random,

I have some quick questions for you before we can proceed with this pardon -

Feel free to contact me by any of the following:
My Discord: Gen#7669
Or my skype (linked in my signature)

 

Thanks for providing me the info I needed.

I'm moving your pardon to staff voting. Please be patient as it may take up to two weeks for a decision.

In the meantime, you may apply for DNT if you'd like, here: Request a DNT
Understanding DNT: Understanding the DNT (Do Not Trade) rank

You will find your pardon decision here: Pardon Decisions Thread [Updated 11/8]