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Okay, so everyone is paranoid lately, talking about hackers "stealing" favorites and clothes.
So, let's make this clear:
There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY a person can "steal" anything from you on Ameba Pico.
The only way to do that would be accessing Ameba Pico's server and stealing the information from the database, and then decrypting it and then ... well ... that's what a real hacker would do and real hackers don't waste their time with games like Ameba Pico.
Besides, a game like Ameba Pico is already protected against these kind of attacks.
The problem with the loss of favorites and the items is a bug. What's a bug? I'll quote Wikipedia:
"... the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways."So, it's an error in the game, that hopefully they're working on fixing.
Did you lose any items? Just report the problem and I'm sure that you'll get them back.
Some people have been locking their rooms trying to prevent attacks from the imaginary hackers. Let's be realistic, a real hacker would find a way to get in your room anyway. And it doesn't even make sense that the hacker needs to be in your room to steal your stuff in the first place.
The Truth About Hacking
So, can someone steal your account? Of course they can! But in Ameba Pico, "hacked" is just a fancy word for "I'm an idiot; I gave my account information away."
What are the most common ways to steal your account?
- Confidence tricks. The trickster will deceive you into willingly giving out your account information. To get into your account they may tell you that they'll put AmbebaGold into your account, for example, or by giving you some other too-good-to-be-true story.
- Phishing scams. You will get a fake message, an email, or an URL for a fake website that will require you to to respond by providing your Pico account information. The message might say that your account will be banned, or that you'll get free AmebaGold and a magic panda. Most phishing websites make you fill a form with your account information, and then your account information will be sent to the perpetrator's email address and they will have all the information needed to log in as you and take over your account.
- Keylogger "spyware" software. It's a stealthy method of capturing and recording computer users' keystrokes, including sensitive passwords (and sometimes it even takes snapshots of your screen) and emails that information to the spyware owner. A keylogger must be installed by anyone who has an access to your computer or it can be attached to a virus from a file you download.
So, how can you prevent people "stealing" your account? Well, change your password every now and then.
If someone asks you for your password, don't be that stupid.
Did Chloe send you an email asking for your account information to give you a free pony? Ameba Pico will NEVER ask for your account information.
As for keyloggers. Just get a good anti-virus software for protection, turn your firewall on, and you'll be safe!
Sick of the Virus Talk
I have also heard some people saying that they got a virus playing Ameba Pico. Viruses are most often passed through files that a person downloads, which are corrupted. Flash games, like Ameba Pico do not download anything to your computer. Unless you're downloading files, and running/opening them on your computer you are not going to get a virus from playing the game.
You can, however, get a virus by clicking into someone's URL and downloading something (and you can also end up seeing some ... pretty nasty stuff). But again, if you have an antivirus software program, you're safe (just not from the nasty stuff people put in their URLs so if you don't recognize and URL don't open it).
The Final Word
So again, there are no hackers. You can't prevent the loss of favorites or items; let's just hope that Ameba Pico fixes that soon. If you don't want to lose your account, just follow my advice: keep your login information safe and private.
Want more of Benry's brutal honesty?
Follow Benry on Facebook.
Many thanks to Benry for bringing some clarity to this situation, and to "hyoori" for alerting us to Benry's Facebook thread in which he discusses the truths and untruths about hacking in Pico.
On January 21, 2011, the Ameba Pico Management posted a statement on scams on the official Pico blog. The post advises you to:
- Never teach others your e-mail login address or your password.
- Even to those Picos you know well.
- Frequently change your passwords, and make them secure.
- Never buy AmebaGold from people or places other than Ameba Pico’s official site.
- If someone says he/she will give you Ameba Gold, always say ‘no’ and report us the person’s Pico name.
Hey Benry! Great post! I think you make great points with this, and we can all stop worrying and put our clothes back on XD
ReplyDeleteI think I disagree?
ReplyDeleteThe way I heard it from my buddies, the hacking program. I read it on PicoPerfect and one of my buddis who has been hacked tracked down the hacking machine and also confirmed that it just hide the number. My computer has been also attacked by a virus, luckily i have a good software. This hacking stuff is pretty messy. Pico should do something. :|
I disagree too & I suspect Benry is a hacker..Hahas (No Offence >.<)
ReplyDeleteBut it all makes sense.
Benry is super famous + rich.
His not hacked yet. Why?
He post this so that people will be "relaxed" or "confident" that there is no hacker.
But if I'm wrong, Sorry Benry >.<
No offences.
Ooh, another thing to add on.
ReplyDeleteTake Kaname Slitz as an example.
He has only 1 room left, when he initially had 4.
Can Pico bugs do this?
His room is empty, his faves are down to 0.
I don't believe this is due to pico bugs. Its a hacker job.
Maybe Hackers DO waste their time on Ameba Pico.
Like Mr Pidut, Ameba Pico may be the hacker's life.
Maybe the hacker(s) love to cause pain & depression to others.
I bet MANY People have complained to Pico.
Did Pico fix it yet? Noooo!
Cause this is not the work of a bug, its the work of a hacker.
Do I make a point ? >.<
None taken!
ReplyDeleteActually, yes. A bug can do that. That's exactly the kind of stuff that a bug can do and it's impossible for a hacker to do. Why? Let's suppose that this "hacker" gets in your account. What exactly would he do to delete your rooms? Or to delete your favorites? As you know, it's not possible to delete rooms or favorites on Pico. Well, let's suppose that this hacker is really, really good, how could he delete your favorites or rooms? Not by hacking your account. He'd have to hack Pico. The data about favorites and rooms is stored in a database in Pico's server. Accessing this information by hacking an account is not possible. They're not related.
If this hacker was that good to gain access to the database, the damage would be way worse than just losing favorites and rooms. He could delete all the accounts with one click if he wanted, and that kind of intrusion to the server would've been detected long ago.
If you're still worried about the hackers and stuff, just contact Pico's customer service. In my experience with them, they always replied any email enquiries I sent to them in less than 48 hs. and I'm sure that they'll explain everything to you.
you are right they r certainly ot related there is a downloadable device called the cheat engine it works for any game hack hack hack the game from playdom called wild ones has so much hckers and benry is not a hacker tricking us to relax he is telling us true advice to relax true is what u beleive i hate the creator of computers if he damm wated he couldve made no viruses or errors but instead he wanted us to pay over and over to take away our viruses the playdom game which is wild ones has a bunch of hackers no protection the best thing to do is dont beleive there a hacker for an opposite example if u c a twig and it will only be special if u beleive its special like ur favrie glasses is like tresure to u if u see a hacker contact pico keep in touch the thing that made so mjuch sense bye benry was wen the ppl say there account got hacked but u let it out if u r addicted to pico then the way u can stop is by trying the ppl that just say im addicted pls hlp me there idiots it might be hard to stop but u gotta try so dont beleive those hackers if they proceed trying to hack an account it might make all accounts ruined pico can handle it so who cares about these hackers and what i ment by beleive is that if u think pico cant handle hackers then ur not beleiving they can u gotta remember if u cant do it just try! <'>.<'> - pico got ya
ReplyDeleteWell I have been hacked. And yes, I'm an idiot. But this person was someone I met in real life! I didn't think they would hack me! Benry I know you in Pico. I don't think I'll ever get back on to talk to you again, which is my next question: Will I ever get my Pico back?
ReplyDeleteAnd also it didn't really steal anything, it simply got control of talking, and it said "ni hao" and then she said "hello little sucker, nice pico." And I tried to say "please stop" but it blocked my chat, it wouldn't let me talk. She changed my look and changed my name to Neoraven... Something like that. She changed my clothes twice, I lost 14 favorites since I got on, and 3 of my friends were missing. I understand that they may have deleted me, but I doubt my BFF's would delete me. I earned my gold, and it was really hard. All i want right now is my Pico back.(and to finish my homework :/)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a remote control software used to control your computer from a remote location. I'm surprised the person also has your password, unless there's also a keylogger installed in your computer.
ReplyDeleteAny antivirus or antispyware software should solve the problem. But if the person changed your password and your e-mail to recover your password, I don't think you'll get your Pico back.
I was on my account when i get a message from a friend saying that a friend of ours was "hacked".! So,I finally find her hacked account and i luckily got the "hacker" when she was online and i said to her "Hey Rockey" she says nothing. and i ask her is that u? and she says "nuu" and then she leaves the room~. So i find her again and i say things like you are a creul person, why would u hack a person 4 fun? bc rockey was very upset and she told me to try to get her account back and it is stressing bc i rlly want to get rockeys account back but I'm Not sure i can. =\ she also spent alot of money on that account. and the thing is Rockey said she changes her password and e-mail frequently. and this girl pepsi i see her on my friends accounts all the time and im sick of it.! Dx
ReplyDeletehey there i need a little help i read ur blog so u said no one can hack till i dont pass my info right? its happening to me like past couple of months a guy is accessing in my account i changed my password and email address a hundred times i complaint to pico admin they said keep changing ur email address and password except that they cant help can u help me in dis matter and one more thing i saw a new thing on his profile i locked my room so i saw a new button on his profile it says "permit this pico to enter the room? all i want to free from dis curse help me man
ReplyDelete@dexxa, it's extremely lazy of Ameba Pico support to essentially tell you to keep changing your email and password, and there's nothing else they can do. They should be working to help stop this type of hacking. Ask them if its possible for them to track which IP addresses are accessing your account and permanently ban those that are not yours.
ReplyDeleteYou could also have a computer expert look at your computer to see if the hacker is accessing your account by keylogging. In this case, you would need to have the app removed from your computer as well as have really effective security software installed.
Good luck.
- The Instigator
K first i met a hacker she said give me gm and i will give you ag but i wasnt a fool so i said no then after 5 minutes my 4000 gm became 0 i dont know how she didnt knew my email or password i send all i could details to pico about her i send her pico photo her pico name her room photo and some people's photo whose gm got hacked by her too :( but pico never replied now she keep sending me messages on pico like bitch or fuck u or jurk :( edited or puts slash in middle so pico dont catch her word what do i do :(
ReplyDelete@khadija anees, Ameba Customer Support sucks (support@ameba.net). Big time. Each day send them the same email with this person's name, your photos and the situation.
ReplyDeleteEach time she sends new hate mail, add those photos and chat to your email.
Do it every day once a day until you get a reply.
- The Instigator