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Posted: August 9, 2010 10:20 am  | |||||||||||
      IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49    | This is a general warning topic. I have a MSN account, and a number of people added on as friends that I haven't talked to in a long time. Most of these people are or were WG(and friends) at some time in the past. These days, I hardly use MSN, and so when someone messages me, it usually means someone wants my help with something, often scripting related. And so when I saw Sabre Treky apparently messaging me, I was expecting something along the lines of "I need your help with this forum script":
Wait a minute, I thought, you are PMing me, out of the blue, to tell me you took an IQ quiz?
Ok, perhaps hes wondering if there is something wrong with the script...
RED FLAG!
Yup, definitely a bot.
I then looked up this site he gave me, google turned up NOTHING. This is generally bad. I loaded the page with some safe software - I didn't -see- any viruses or anything, but I found that it opened officialiqquiz.com in a frame. Officicialquiz.com however -did- have several google results, including this report, which basically shows the whole thing to be a scam. Now, as you can see from the above chat, the bot was able to do some very basic keyword response, but when faced with a question that it couldn't understand, it wasn't able to cope. The bot even had a bit of "lag" between messages, and the "buddy is now typing" message was shown! - Aside from the responses, it looked like a normal person. If I hadn't been as suspicious as I am, I could have gotten trapped. As bots get better and better for this sort of thing, we all need to be more vigilant at keeping our PCs safe, and avoiding getting trapped - what if this bot had been advertising a virus instead? Say under the guise of a new version of MSN? Here is what you can do: 1. If you are suspicious, ask a question that you know the person you are talking to would be able to know, yet most others couldn't. A good example is asking your X level on RS, when talking with WG or RS friends - Unless the other person was a person, and knew RS, they wouldn't be able to answer it near correctly. You could also ask their first name, WOW name, WOW level, clan, or something else - just make it something that would be hard for a bot or a scammer to know. 2. Never click on links unless you asked for it first. If you are given a link without explicitly asking for it, google the name of the site. Unless you know its safe, don't click! 3. Use common sense. This will keep you safe 9/10 times - Don't get greedy, or expect to get something for nothing - That is how they trap you. 4. Let others know. If you find one of your friends has been hacked or botted, let them know via cell or any other method you know of. I hope this helps you guys! -Rob -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link  I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||||||||||
Posted: August 9, 2010 10:25 am | |||||||||||
 IRC Nickname: Dnovelta Group: Emeritus Posts: 2750 Member No.: 130 Joined: January 20, 2008 Total Events Attended: 137 | Good advice. Don't think the "third world country" bit is necessary, but that's just because I've lived in third world countries (am currently in one right now) and have a soft spot for them. But yes, people need to be very careful these days with all sorts of malicious tactics being used by people to get ahold of information that isn't theirs. --------------------   | ||||||||||
Posted: August 9, 2010 10:29 am | |||||||||||
| IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49 |
I'm not sure what the correct word is, though. (Especially since some would consider the US to be a third world country) -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||||||||||
Posted: August 9, 2010 11:08 am | |||||||||||
 IRC Nickname: Jouke[WG] Group: Ex-Member Posts: 153 Member No.: 2326 Joined: July 24, 2010 Total Events Attended: 16 | They seem to advance.. never seen one able to have a 'conversation'. Never have fallen for any internet scams personally. --------------------  | ||||||||||
Posted: August 9, 2010 03:47 pm | |||||||||||
 IRC Nickname: Indivi2you Group: Elite Guardian Posts: 5361 Member No.: 43 Joined: December 30, 2007 Total Events Attended: 623 | Investigator Robbie! Thanks man, i'll keep on a lookout -------------------- The First, The Last, and the Only ~FLO Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. ~Michael Jordan      | ||||||||||
Posted: August 16, 2010 09:15 am | |||||||||||
| IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49 | I thought I might want to add - Reece just IM'd me the exact same bot-message:
Note the times - It wouldn't respond until you do. -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||||||||||
Posted: August 16, 2010 12:51 pm | |||||||||||
| IRC Nickname: markenzie1 Group: Emeritus Posts: 790 Member No.: 2004 Joined: August 9, 2009 Total Events Attended: 180 |
honestly? well if they are this predictable they aren't that dangerous=D. --------------------   | ||||||||||
Posted: August 16, 2010 01:23 pm | |||||||||||
| IRC Nickname: Group: Elite Guardian Posts: 7306 Member No.: 47 Joined: December 30, 2007 Total Events Attended: 343 | I don't use MSN but I've seen it on AIM. It follows the saying there's no such thing as a free lunch. If it's "free" there's always a catch whether that varies from getting your e-mail spammed with advertising to stolen identity. -------------------- July 5, 2007 - June 27, 2011 | ||||||||||
Posted: August 19, 2010 01:23 am | |||||||||||
| IRC Nickname: Mmangler Group: Emeritus Posts: 1595 Member No.: 1580 Joined: December 24, 2008 Total Events Attended: 165 | Great advice. I have a tendency to ignore people if they seem a bit flaky--hmm maybe its an automatic response to bots. -------------------- | ||||||||||
Watch out for IM bots!