Facts Not Fiction!
Gday Folks,
Here are some facts.....
FACT#1
I was at PA around 9am my time (MA+10hrs) around the TP when I noticed an unusual number of players in various armours and of various abilities milling around someone.
FACT#2
I had a closer look at a ava "Nocturnal Navigator" dropping items and ped around the place with the others swarming the ava like sharks in a feeding frenzy.
FACT#3
Myself and a avatar by the name of Jenny Ferr began to ask about why this was happening and then noticed that the ava was dumping all items and rang the alarm bells. We broadcasted a battery of questions at Nocturnal who ignored these and just kept dropping and prompting players to pick up.
From the screen shots to follow u will notice that there is no explanation during my time there (for most of the drops), the person playing Nocturnal was aggressive when MA support case is mentioned and doesnt do trades just drops.
FACT#4
At the height of chat around the matter of a hacked account, Nocturnal disappears and the frenzy continues as more hear of the incident and free items as well as a new ava wanting to sell a pistol.....KORSS 380 UL below market. I then target the individual HANZO to prevent him selling this dropped item by warning others that it may be from a hacked account and to be cautious. After more avas became suspect on a new ava suddenly trying to sell a pistol like this for 3K he took off to the Auction House and listed it with BO for 5K. I checked the auction to confirm he had indeed listed it and I was right.
FACT#5
At no time when I was calling HANZO out about the suspect item did he even deny or refute the facts presented to him and just went round picking trades with avas around the TP.
FACT#6
A number of veteran avas were present and witnessed this...WILDMAN will back me on the evidence presented in screenies.
FACT#7
I even made an international call to Mindark but got their answering service and the lady on the other end was like..."what has been hacked, ped you say....theft of what????" and referred me back to Tech Support lol. Poor woman wouldnt know what I was talking about after I then realised who she was and what she did. I believe Jenny Ferr made a support case on this matter though. Someone (cant remember just now - HIDE was his name!!) also was taking screenies of the items too.
Points I'd like to make....
- If you are going to have a legitimate fire sale then please spam this a few times so that players like myself dont cry "WOLF" if indeed it is a legit item drop/treasure hunt when asked or confronted.
- This may not resurface until Nocturnal returns from a holiday, gets access to a computer (wife threw it out house) or when he next logs in when not busy with rl issues.
- Keyloggers etc seem to be uncommon from what i was told around the time by those who claimed to be in IT so it comes down to an account username and password becoming known to someone else (friend or other) and accessed. GOLD CARDS PEOPLE.....THE MESSAGE STILL RINGS IN MY EARS...dont know how many times people need to be told?
- MA could maybe look at a small section in their support side to flag an immediate suspected hacked account to prevent huge numbers of accounts being suspended pending an investigation. if it smells fishy it wouldnt hurt to have some from MA just have a quick look and send a message to the community (other than...the servers will be going down in 3 minutes...) advising of this. why, to prevent innocent people trading items that are tainted say 3 or 4 layers below the initial item drop/trade.
A final word....in particular to the moron who said why was it a problem to pickup a dropped hacked/stolen item and keep it and that this was ok/fine thing to do....I say this again:
Your walking home past your neighbours house when you see a guy in the window waving at you. You dont recognise him but then you dont now all your neighbours so you say 'Hi'. He says "want a TV?" and passes it out the window and declines any money. So you rub your grubby little hands together and stroll home with the TV. You justify it in your mind in so many different ways to yourself and convince your family that there was nothing wrong and sit down to watch a show....then there is a knock on the door and two police officers want to know where the TV came from and would like to talk to you so more on how u got it.
Is it then fair to say..."a guy in the house down a bit gave it to me through a window and didnt want money for it...so its ok as I didnt break in to get it and how was I to know the guy wasnt my neighbour... I have lots of neighbours i dont know... i always get deals through windows etc all the time and dont think nothing of this sort of transaction...its not illegal!'
WAKE UP!!! The case above without any reasoning as why things were being given out would surely been enough to prompt u to say....why is this guy giving away lots of expensive stuff and money (all people when they start surely understand the ped 2 cash ratio)?
I give away stuff sure...but I explain why and make a game out of it or reward others for their effort. I find alot of new players suspect me when I do this but when I explain why they feel better.
If someone wants to dump items that they have built up without payment then fine....but please please explain to onlookers why....else we all suffer while the mess gets straightened out.
Screenies to be added here.....soon
Bags