Second Life Hackers Want YOU — Be Wary!

A number of high profile incidents of hacking have happened to prominent Second Life residents recently. Accounts have been hacked into and then used to spam people and groups with fraudelent links designed to steal money and login information for other accounts. In one case this past week, a fashion designer claims her account was hacked into and nearly her entire inventory deleted.

If you aren’t a premium member, you are extremely unlikely to get any kind of response or assistance from Linden Labs in such a disaster. Even if you are a premium member, Linden Labs still may not be able to help you to recover anything lost due to hacking.

Second Life hacking is not a joke, it is a very serious threat. First you could lose access to your account for an undetermined period of time while you spend endless hours trying to convince Linden Labs that you are you. Plus you could end up losing all your inventory and lindens to a cruel hacker. Even worse, however, is what that hacker could do to your real life with access to your Second Life account.

A hacker could purchase huge masses of lindens — thousands of dollars — using your payment information, and then transfer those lindens through dummy accounts (or stolen ones like yours) to eventually sell them on eBay or somewhere else. You could not only lose all your SL money, but you could find your RL bank account empty, or your credit card charged up to the max. Can you imagine the hassle of trying to get that money refunded to you by the bank or credit card company? Especially when you try to explain exactly what happened?

Now is the time to take action to prevent yourself from becoming the next Second Life hacker victim. Go right this second toSecondLife.com (and do NOT click on that link, this is a lesson — go type in the URL into a new browser window yourself). Then change your password to something over eight characters long containing capital letters, numbers and symbols. That is the most difficult type of password to hack.

Beware of ALL links posted to groups or sent to you via IM or chat in Second Life, especially anything with the word “marketplace” in the title or the URL. A huge number of these are fake links to web pages just designed to steal your login information when you try to access them. Some of these sites may even look exactly like the real marketplace or SecondLife.com website. In particular, be wary of any links talking about “new stores” or “new products” or offering huge discounts. Even if you know the person posting the link, do NOT trust it — they may have been hacked. The rule is, never, ever put your login information and password into a website page you opened by clicking a link in Second Life. Always open a new browser window yourself and go directly to the Second Life marketplace official page or SecondLife.com. Never attempt to purchase items or lindens anywhere except those two places.

On a side note about purchasing lindens — just don’t even think about buying lindens anywhere else than through official Second Life sources. Those deals for lindens on eBay and other third party websites may seem amazing! However, the vast majority of those lindens are stolen from people just like you through fraudelant hacking schemes. Linden Labs has no sympathy for anyone who purchases stolen lindens. They will seize the purchased lindens. They will shut down your account. They will NOT refund you for anything. When I was a very young noob, I was an idiot who didn’t know any better and bought lindens on eBay and let me tell you… it was very, very bad and I never did get that account back or any of that money back.

Lastly, be very wary of anyone offering you “free” stuff in Second Life. The Amaretto breedable horse community, for example, has been plagued with people allegedly handing out free food or free horses. These objects, when clicked, steal lindens or give out links that are fakes to steal login information. Do not give ANY object you have been given permission rights on your account for anything, even if a supposed friend gave it to you.

Change your password, and then change it again on a regular basis. Keep your eyes open and use common sense. This is the best you can do to keep yourself safe from being hacked. If something DOES happen to your account, contact Linden Labs immediately by phone and keep calling until you get someone to help you. Use the SL support site to register a ticket immediately. If you have a bank account or credit card registered with your SL account and you suspect it has been hacked, call your credit card company or bank and have them on alert for possible fraudulent activity.

Gracias a Thanamera Valeska .

Gracias por tu ayuda y amabilidad.