Scamming and Hacking Prevention

Hey animals! This is just an informational post, nothing more. No news yet, sorry! So earlier today I was talking with a few of my AJ friends about scamming and hacking, and I was surprised with the amount of times she said she had had her items tricked away. I asked a few of my other friends, and they said the same! 

I'd never really been scammed in my time on AJ, but because everyone I know has been at some point, there are obviously some things that need to change. People not choosing to be scammers, of course, but it's going to be a long while until scammers are gone for good. Until then, it's smart to follow a few scam/hack preventing guidelines.

1. Scamming: Don't trust anyone unless they show you the money.

– What this means is that you shouldn't accept a trade where you can't see the whole deal of what you're getting and what they're getting. No matter who they are, the whole trade should be neatly spread out in a single request. They shouldn't "promise they'll give it back" or "have an extra." A trade should be one step. This is one of the most popular and disregarded "techniques" if you will.

2. Hacking: Use a different email as your parent email.

– Friends who know your regular email is your AJ email are one step closer to control of your account. Regardless of how close they are, sometimes people can get into arguments and use whatever they can against you. Keep an even tighter rein on this email than your normal email, too. Use an email password that no one would expect you'd have.

3. Scamming: Avoid attention in scam-heavy areas.

– Before going to a place that you may be scammed in, take everything off your trade list and strip the rares off your animal. Attention is the first step to being scammed. 

4. Hacking: Recognize how serious hacking is.

– Hacking an account doesn't just take away your items. If the hacker themselves knows your parent email and parent center password, your bank info is also at stake. DON'T SHARE PASSWORD, PARENT PASSWORD, PARENT EMAIL, OR YOUR EMAIL PASSWORD AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

5. Scamming: If you get scammed, draw attention to the scammer.

– If you're scammed, don't expect your items back for nothing. The only thing you can do at this point is bring the scammer to justice. Take note of usernames you find suspicious who have a scamming history or are in the process of scamming. Submit them to a scammer-catching blog, or get your friends to mass-report them so they get banned. It takes around ten different reports for a user to be banned.

6. Hacking: If only your AJ account is hacked and your items stolen...

– Keep calm. Change your password, your username, all of that. If you're confident that the hacker has no means to get into your parent information, strengthen your parent stuff but relax. Being hacked doesn't feel good at all, but if they only got your AJ password it's fine. If they changed your user, deleted your friends, get them all back. They can take your items, but they can't take you down.

That's all for now, see you in Jamaa!