Curse

IIIMantisIII · Oct 15, 2009, 03:59 AM // 03:59

Ok so one day i couldn't log into my guild wars account. With a little help from NC soft support i logged into my master account and reset the password. When i got back on my Chaos gloves, destroyer gaunlets, ninja mask, obsidian helm and elite sin armor were gone. And what i don't understand is everything else of value is still there!? All my kegs of ale and stacks of feathers and title point items are still there. It's as if only the stuff that mattered to me PERSONALLY is gone. I mean WTF?? it's of no use to anyone else...

Anyways... enough of my distraught rantings... i'm just depressed that all my accomplishments of the last 4 years are simply gone.

Is there any way i can get this stuff back? Does anyone know why this would happen?

dunky_g · Oct 15, 2009, 10:42 AM // 10:42

happened to me about a month ago, best thing to do is to not dwell on what you have lost, but become motivated to play the game again.

Hengis · Oct 18, 2009, 11:49 AM // 11:49

Well, I never thought I would be making a post like this..

After playing Guild Wars for over four years, my account was hacked over the last few days.

I've not been well, so haven't logged on in two or three days.

When I logged on today my poor primary ranger was naked. Further investigation shows that my account had been almost totally stripped. Items and gold worth around 3 million+ gold have been taken including my obsidian armour and my kuunavang :-(

I've never been mega rich in game, but after playing for over 5000 hours, I "was" moderately wealthy. I was working on the Kurzick title which would give me 28/30 and was going to use the cash to do a double hit on sweet tooth and party points to get GWAMM.

What's more I have no idea how this could have happened. I never share my password. I would have said my password was pretty secure. I've never bought gold from a gold sellers etc. In fact I'm 46 years old and work in the IT industry, so am pretty well aware of basic account security.

Strangely enough, I did a full reinstall of Vista only last Tuesday as I had bought a superfast Solid State disk drive, but I am going to do a full system scan and spyware check this afternoon anyway.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky that my password wasn't changed so at least I can start rebuilding. It goes without saying that it has been changed now though!

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a QQ post.. but I just felt the need talk to people who might feel my pain.

I've already sent in a support ticket, and although I am fully aware that there is nothing they can do to reinstate anything to my account, just maybe they can look at my trading history over the past few days and just perhaps ban the person who did this.

I must admit though, that I didn't realise just how much having something like this happen to you would hurt!

tw1tchdp · Oct 18, 2009, 12:15 PM // 12:15

sucks man! happened to me. quit for a few months but hey im playing now oh well.

king swift · Oct 18, 2009, 04:15 PM // 16:15

My account was hacked but I managed to log onto playNC.com and change the password before any damage was done

Stop The Storm · Oct 18, 2009, 06:46 PM // 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hengis Stone

Well, I never thought I would be making a post like this..

After playing Guild Wars for over four years, my account was hacked over the last few days.

I've not been well, so haven't logged on in two or three days.

When I logged on today my poor primary ranger was naked. Further investigation shows that my account had been almost totally stripped. Items and gold worth around 3 million+ gold have been taken including my obsidian armour and my kuunavang :-(

I've never been mega rich in game, but after playing for over 5000 hours, I "was" moderately wealthy. I was working on the Kurzick title which would give me 28/30 and was going to use the cash to do a double hit on sweet tooth and party points to get GWAMM.

What's more I have no idea how this could have happened. I never share my password. I would have said my password was pretty secure. I've never bought gold from a gold sellers etc. In fact I'm 46 years old and work in the IT industry, so am pretty well aware of basic account security.

Strangely enough, I did a full reinstall of Vista only last Tuesday as I had bought a superfast Solid State disk drive, but I am going to do a full system scan and spyware check this afternoon anyway.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky that my password wasn't changed so at least I can start rebuilding. It goes without saying that it has been changed now though!

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a QQ post.. but I just felt the need talk to people who might feel my pain.

I've already sent in a support ticket, and although I am fully aware that there is nothing they can do to reinstate anything to my account, just maybe they can look at my trading history over the past few days and just perhaps ban the person who did this.

I must admit though, that I didn't realise just how much having something like this happen to you would hurt!

makes you feel sick doesnt it?

i was hacked way back in prophecies, they took 400k and cut up all my armours, 400k back then was a lot of money!

i took a 4 month break from guildwars, played other games, came back and enjoyed the game again

MMSDome · Oct 19, 2009, 03:35 AM // 03:35

Yea my account was ahcked too. Went through support, changed password and got it back. All my money, zkeys, expensive shit was gone but o well.

lol

obsidian ectoplasm · Oct 19, 2009, 08:11 AM // 08:11

I've lost 2 accounts, about 2 years ago.

it was shit but Im past that.

Hengis · Oct 19, 2009, 03:52 PM // 15:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coney

Maybe the hack got in before all the online patching could be done for the OS? I suspect by now that there are spiders constantly sniffing out vulnerable accounts on the net for targetting. I've always been suspicious of the fact that most micro$ exploits involve IE, yet you must use IE to get the patching process going...

Thanks for all the replies guys. Some interesting ideas and discussion and not too many trolls :-)

I must admit I am still puzzled though:

I did think that the above may apply, but a full AVG system scan and a couple of spyware scans show it is clean. DEP is enabled and I use a hard cabled connection to my router from this PC.

I don't do online banking as I am too paranoid for that LOL, but I did check my most important other online accounts and they were all fine but I changed the passwords anyway, so thanks for the reminder to look. I was the victim of credit card ID theft a while ago when my card was skimmed in a petrol/gas station (I only ever buy petrol with cash now!)

Guild Wars was of course one of the first things I put back on the rebuilt PC and the coincidence of rebuilding on Tuesday, playing OK on Wednesday, not playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday due to being ill, and then finding the account hacked by Sunday seems too great to me.

To some of the doubters, the combination of password and email address used for GW was unique.

Just a little frustrated now that NCSoft have blocked the account AFTER I reported the incident and changed my password.

I just sent a reply asking them what is going on.

I know I will get the account back eventually, and I really should consider myself lucky that my main char who I have had since the day I bought GW over 4 years ago was not deleted.

I was going to RR farm yesterday for the first time ever to make up some cash, but that never happened.. and I dont think I will get to see Nicholas today either at this rate.

Thanks again to all who posted. I have got over the initial shock now :-) and just want to get back in the game as soon as possible.

vader · Oct 19, 2009, 05:09 PM // 17:09

My brother just called me and turns out he was hacked sometime yesterday. All of his stuff is gone. He doesn't post on forums, he doesn't talk to anyone in game, and he really has no idea what could have happened. His password was fairly secure so he has no idea how it could have happened. He is even more anal than I am when it comes to PC protection so it is very strange this has happened to him.

rick1027 · Oct 19, 2009, 10:07 PM // 22:07

i had a friend who got hacked the same way all his stuff was stripped and cut up so i sort of feel your pain kudos to you for getting back into the game he never did and hope it never happens again to you man

Hengis · Oct 20, 2009, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Well, I finally have my account back.

Quote: "Your account was accessed by a Real Money Trader".

You can believe me or you can decide not to believe me, but I have never gone near gold sellers. Why would I need to? I had assets worth 3+ million from just playing the game for four years.

I will say again - as far as I was concerned my account was secure. No one knew my password, not even my son who also plays Guild Wars, and that password and email address combination was unique. The password was good enough that it could not have been cracked by a dictionary attack only by a brute force attack.

As for PC security.. If you have read my previous posts you would know that I work in IT Tech Support and have done for 15 years. Without being too specific, I know enough about IT security.

My only doubt comes from my reinstall of Vista only two or three days before the hacking took place, although AVG, Spybot S&D, Adaware and HiJackThis all say it is clean.

My final concern is that I had been using GWML (Guild Wars Multi Launch) with my second account. The second account was not touched, but unfortunately I had all my money and ectos etc on the one that was.

On the postive side, my primary char was not deleted. If that had happened, I probably would have just quit the game.

I have already completed my Hall of Monuments, so all my minipets and armours are already displayed. I can go and see my Kuunavang, Obsidian armour etc, even if I no longer have them :-)

Oh, and the hacker "forgot" to strip all the superior vigors etc from my heroes too :-)

Divine One · Oct 21, 2009, 01:43 AM // 01:43

Anyone with the misfortune to have experienced this have any suggestions?

I've emailed Support. They responded Sunday evening, the day I emailed, to say that my problem was being sent to Account Support instead. I have product access keys to prove ownership, but the problem is getting someone to help me get my account back.

Are they snails over there? What's the hold up? I've been playing since January Beta. I'm annoyed that they're not quicker to help resolve my problem.

Rolandl · Oct 21, 2009, 05:16 AM // 05:16

Happened to me before and it took them 10 days to reset.

Few things that helps:

1 - If you have a masters account, you can change your password from there and get access to your account ASAP.

2 - Sent them the time and date when the hack occurred - it allows them to trace the hacker and permanently Ban the accounts involved.

3 - send as much evidence that you own the account including all the game codes and any receipts / screen prints that you have.

4 - Don't excessively message support. It wont help and they will get to your account when they can.

5 - if you are concern regard deleted toons - ask a friend to try and create a toon with the same name... if its taken then its likely that the toon has not been deleted.

6 - expect the account to be totally stripped. Anet will not restore all the stuff that you have lost

LegolasJJH · Oct 21, 2009, 05:20 AM // 05:20

Let me first say that i'm a very computer literate and knowledgeable person, I have been playing online games for over 10+ years and have never had a problem such as this. Normally when i see people post threads like these i think "was their fault for downloading something or giving out their info." Obviously i didn't download any third party programs for guild wars (none what so ever even "legit" ones i see other people using, no guides, and i have never visited a guild wars website other than guildwarsguru.com,guildwarswiki, and guildwars.com) This is why this has taken me for quite a surprise.

Logged onto my guild wars account today to find all my gold, mats, gold weapons etc gone. My characters are still there and i can still log onto the account though.

I know there are only 2 ways this could have happened.

#1 One way i guess would be my fault, somehow something i downloaded non-guild wars related had a keylogger on my computer which i would guess is the most likely reason. I do have a virus shield running at all times and scan things i download. The only thing that makes me think this is not the reason is because i play alot of other games and have ALOT more wealth on other games and have never had a problem losing those accounts. I also make online purchases and keep a close eye on my credit card statements and credit history and nothing along those lines has been tampered with. I do have identity theft insurance in case also.

#2 This reason is based off a coincidental experience that last night prior to being hacked i was in a PUG for the first time in YEARS and i admittedly did get into a verbal argument with them. If this is the case then this game has a very bad security issue and this is just my warning to other players, though this reason doesn't seem as likely i just thought it was strange my account gets hacked the day after PUGing for the first time in over 3.5 years.

All my mini pets were oddly left on the account and seeing as i will not be playing guild wars anymore or purchasing anything from this company again if anyone wants them i may make time to give them away, though they are all white besides 1 freezie.

Articus Red · Oct 21, 2009, 08:29 AM // 08:29

Hey, I just got done logging onto GW also just to see whats been going on, and I was surprised that my password wasn't working..I change it and I log on only to find my monies gone also. My storage gold cleaned...and most of the items gone as well, but for some reason all my mini pets were left untouched. Meh..I supposed aside from the black dye and a couple elite tomes I had, I didn't have anything valuable. But it makes me wonder, I logged in about two weeks ago and everything was fine, what changed from then till now? Because I have played much of GW in awhile. I usually log on and just walk around for a bit then just log out like 5 minutes later. Did I do anything to compromise my security of my account? Damn, oh well. Not much I can do but change the password.

Carboplatin · Oct 21, 2009, 03:26 PM // 15:26

I got hacked too. Anti-virus and Spybot on 100% of the time.
4+ years, couple millions + ectos , salvaged all armor and weapons, took it all.

at least they didnt delete my gwamm

Demalii · Oct 24, 2009, 07:29 AM // 07:29

So as the title said, here's what a GM from the arena.net teams has to tell me after my pve characters were stripped of everything, and I was left with a brand spanking new 5 year old guild wars account. Yes, I was hacked when i took a trip to euro for 3 weeks, I came back to nothing...

Quote:

Hello,

Guild Wars does not have the capability to recover lost or deleted characters or items; nor is it possible to revert a specific character or account to a previous state. No matter the cause for such loss, replacement of such things is simply not something that we are able to offer or support.

Our records show that a member of a Real-Money Trading organization was able to access your account. Because we know that our servers are secure, we believe it is possible that someone may have gained access to your account without your knowledge or permission. This can happen if you share your password, use the same e-mail and password on message boards, or even if you have accidentally installed a keylogger onto your computer.

Here are some tips to help you protect your account and keep your computer secure.

1. Never give your passwords to anyone, including family, friends, or guildmates.

Even if the person is normally trustworthy, you cannot guarantee that they will be following the same strong security precautions that you will follow. Also, there have been occasions when friends have deleted items or characters (often by accident) without the owner's knowledge or permission.

If you believe someone may have learned your password, change it right away.

2. Do not re-use the same username and password on other accounts.

For example, if someone learns the e-mail address and password that you use for a certain message board, it will be easy for them to log into your game account if you use the same e-mail address and password. Use different passwords to improve your account security.

3. Do not install third-party software (i.e. software not created by NCsoft or ArenaNet).

Programs that claim to be item modifiers, cheat programs, or even harmless looking programs such as attribute, skill, or dye calculators might actually contain a harmful virus or keylogger that could allow someone to steal your account information.

If you think you have accidentally installed a keylogger on your computer, you should:

a. Obtain anti-virus software, make sure it is updated with the latest files, and scan your system for viruses and key-loggers.

b. Change all the passwords for accounts that you may have accessed after installing the third party software, such as your Guild Wars game account, PlayNC master account, e-mail address account, fansite forum accounts, etc.

c. Never download any untrustworthy programs in the future! Even if you are confident that you can trust the third-party, please use extreme caution. Virus and keylogger creators rely on your trusting nature to help them steal your accounts from you.

4. Please review our Security FAQ at the following URL, which includes additional information for keeping your Guild Wars account secure:

http://us.ncsoft.com//us/support/doc_993.html

Please contact us again if you have any question or comments regarding this or any other issue.

haha, of course "they know their servers are secure" and there's nothing they can do, but hey.. I know who hacked me!!! Thanks for nothing!

Demalii · Oct 24, 2009, 09:35 PM // 21:35

In my previous post everyone's asking how I knew the person.. I asked you to please read the reply from A.net I posted.. They stated "We know a Real-Money Trader was able to access your account".

This is how I knew who the hacker was, a.net told me, also I haven't used any 3rd party programs, nothing.. I've never shared my account.. All I did was donate for any alliance and save money for armors and stuff.. that's it, so how did I get hacked and how do I keep myself safe for the future...

I never read posts here or post here, so no i didn't expect everyone to flame me..

I have never downloaded programs for guild wars or bought gold or anything, never shared my password, my password are all different across the internet. How did I get hacked by "Real-Money Traders" when I've done my 100% part on keeping my account safe? Where is the help I came to this community for.. I didn't make a post to hear everyone flame me for false reasons.. I came for help on keeping my account safe when I've done 100% of my part keeping it safe and arena.net has failed me.. what now?

Dutch Masterr · Oct 29, 2009, 03:00 AM // 03:00

This is my farewell to the Guild Wars community after 3 and a half years of playing...

So i go to log in one day and i get an error saying "account information not recognized." I have no idea why this happened, so i tried changing my password. The game would direct me to the ncsoft website. From here i still could not change my password because my guild wars account was not linked to it. I emailed the support website and after 3 WEEKS of daily "replies to my tickets," and taking actual pictures with my digital camera of my guild wars access keys and being asked several questions, customer support finally linked my account and showed me how to change my password.

I change my password and...WOW! I CAN LOG IN! Now I find i am only left with 1 character. My monk. All of my characters have been deleted except my monk. All of my monks weapons and several sets of 15k armor are also gone. He is now only equipped with some 55 armor..which i never bought. I also only have 10k gold, random greens and about 50 unidentified golds in my storage which Ive never seen. All of my storage items have been deleted as well. I also log in to find my monk is in standing in Bergen Hot Springs with a 55 build set up for skills.

I had 7 characters, each with at least 3 sets or more of 15k armor on them along with many weapon sets per character. I had several req 8s and other very expensive items. I put so much time into this game and always played fair. This has always been my favorite game and still is, but I guess now im done playing. Ive wasted sooo many countless hours.

Thank you for nothing Guild Wars and your customer service sucks.