Re-post: A friendly reminder to never give out your password to anyone

Ameba Pico's support team will never contact you to ask for your password. This is an important message that needs to get out to players.

There have always been attempts by players to scam others out of their accounts - especially players who have many premium items.

There's a new scammer among us
This month a player named Pico Sυpport™ has popped up and is contacting many people under false pretences. "She" is claiming to be an Ameba official. Alert!: this person is not a member of Pico's support team. Do not send your password information to this person if you are contacted.

Ameba Pico says:

• Change your password and ID frequently
• DO NOT tell anyone your password and ID
• DO NOT type in your password and ID in other applications

"Account information should be kept in the utmost secrecy, the Ameba Pico team will never ask for their passwords or account information." - Parent Friendly Guide: We have key safety tips for our players


Protect yourself
Many players with blogs are getting word out about this scammer. Chimikat, Lavi Shieru, the Pico Grammy Awards team, TLA Family, and the Sakura Sisters are a few who have posted on blogs or Facebook about it. Please do the same in your own way. You might want to consider warning those you know and care about. In fact, if you receive this letter, take a screen cap of it and send it to the real Pico Support at support@ameba.net.

People will always set their mind to scam your out of your account; they'll find new ways to be devious. Scammers will use phony web sites, bogus Facebook accounts/pages and even approaching you in the game to make themselves look "official" and convincing. Be aware.

- AF

Source: RO80 Type Mag: A friendly reminder to never give out your password to anyone

TMI, shuuji1984.

I saw the most ... unusual profile last month. Of course, Pico has all types of profiles. But this one was what I would say had way more info than you need/want to know about someone. Too much info. TMI.


Take a look. Judge for yourself. →

I don't know about you, but I don't need to know about the sex lives of strangers who appear on my screen as kawaii characters.

Since the profile update shuuji1984's information has changed. He no longer publicizes the depressing details of his life to the world and his blog address has changed.

[Update] Shuuji has since left Pico. So, if you want insight into the psyche of a 28-year-old virgin you're out of luck in this case.

Ameba raises the profile

It's been a while since I posted ... but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to comment on the new profiles.

Hate 'em.

Why?

Too jumpy
They ... jump! I hate that! When I say "jump" I mean that when I click on one person to another the position of where the profile is on my screen changes. It jumps.

With the old profiles the position stayed steady. I could place the profile window anywhere I wanted and it would stay ... just like a well behaved dog.



In the end ...
I will admit that I don't mind how the information is laid out. The addition of when the player's account was created and their last login date is a great addition. Ameba gets a point for that. Although I don't like the placement of the URL in the 'Details' tab. It should be visible straight away in 'Basics' tab.

And that's how I feel about it.

It's a good change, it just needs some tweaking.

---

Photo Credit: Pictured (header): ♠MiNoBoo♠, toyo(旬)

700 AG Later...

Just to prove that Ameba is taking advantage of the innocent youth of today, I spun the Ribbon premium gacha 14 times at 50AG per spin.

700AG blown in a matter of seconds and six ribbon cushions later.  I wanted to sock whoever decided to give out a ribbon cushion almost every other spin!  WTF?!

Did this happen to anyone else??  Did ANYONE actually get the blond wig?  I think not!

Ameba, the jig is up... you guys have hit an all time low.  Stop with the premium gacha already.

Really? I mean, REALLY?!

I wished I could say that I'm all that surprised but I'm not.  Having been quite busy, I've neglected logging onto Pico for about a month (I'm sorry Instigator! May will bring lots of blog posts!).  Keeping my fingers crossed... I logged onto Pico tonight hoping (more like praying) that Ameba would wow me back into submission.  I even purchased AG thinking I might review some new items...

Well, I'm going to have to be a little bit more patient and sit on most of the AG I purchased.



Looking at the news bulletin I could tell right away that Ameba is mainly still premium gacha orientated.  I'm disappointed.  Why can't we just buy the stuff we want?  I know I sound like a broken record but it's ridiculous that because our demographic is mainly children Ameba feels like they can take advantage.  Yeah, I said it, I think Ameba is taking advantage of children!  Granted, there has been increase in premium gacha machines in Pigg as well but at least they get a chance to spin once for free... which to me screams that the Japanese Pigg players are not diggin' on the premium gacha either.  No one likes to give anything away for free if they don't have to.



Ameba, you couldn't even create some new sakura items?  I call bull***t!  Stop being lazy and greedy! Create some items that aren't for premium gacha that are new and exciting.  I'm disenchanted and utterly underwhelmed at this point.



Anywho, I'll try to end on a positive note.  The newly released wigs at the sakura room are actually kinda cute.  I'm going to get a lot of use out of this one!

Hopefully, next time my post will be filled with fun new things to see and buy but for now I'm left with quite a bitter taste in my mouth.

Petition: Keep Timelordess in Pico

How would you feel if you went to Pico World Support (support@ameba.net) for help and they turned around and said they may ban your account? Well, that's what's happened to Timelordess.

Here's what happened:
Timelordess noticed some fishy activity with her account's Gummies balance. She was threatened by a someone who claimed to be a hacker in a GM Games area. Then overnight it changed to a very high amount. She contacted Pico World Support and was told that she might never get access to her account again ... even though she did no wrong.

Timelordess's character:
Those who know Timelordess, know that she's fun and caring ... and hasn't the first clue how to be a hacker or scammer. She reports those who bully and threaten to Pico World Support, and encourages her circle of friends to do the same.

For Timelordess to now face the possibility of being permanently banned simply in asking for help is incredibly unfair. Who's next? You? Me?

Sign a support petition:
If you feel the same, please join the Friends of Timelordess and sign this petition to support her cause. Fill in as much of your personal information as you care to give (you don't have to put your address and if you un-click the 'Display my signature publicly' check box your endorsement will only show to the petition's administrator).

http://chn.ge/timelordess

Each time the petition is signed an email is sent to Ameba (support@ameba.net) and CyberAgent America, Inc. (contact@cyberagentamerica.com).

The letter:

Dear Ameba and CyberAgent America:


Recently, Pico ID Timelordess (also *Timelordess*) reported to Pico World Support (support@ameba.net) that she noticed some suspicious activity with her account. Her Gummies currency balance had ballooned to a very large amount. This happened after an incident in the GM Games area; she was threatened by a players who claimed to be a hacker.


Being a responsible player, Timelordess came forward to you seeking help. Instead, she was told that because of this strange account activity she may be banned.


This would be incredibly unfair and unjust.


As a friend of Timelordess and a concerned Pico player I want to give her my support.


I vouch for Timelordess's character and want to tell you that she:

• is not, nor has she ever been, a hacker or scammer. She does not support this activity and has, in fact, posted anti-hack/scam messages to readers of her Pico blog.
• is a mature and responsible person who does not invest her time in hacking/scamming or the abuse of other players.
• is a positive, encouraging and inclusive member of the Pico game community. She is accepting of people of all ages, genders and cultural backgrounds into her friendship circle.
• encourages all those who come within her influence to resolve their in-game issues by reporting them to support@ameba.net -- instead of taking matters into their own hands.
• supports your organization through purchasing Ameba Gold and deserves a proper investigation into the account activity she has brought to your attention.

Ameba Pico needs to invest in proper safeguards to protect innocent players, like Timelordess, and catch those who carry out wrongdoing through hacking, scamming, abuse and other exploits of the game.


Please assign the blame where it lies.


Please do not ban the accounts of Timelordess.


Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Will Gummies be our downfall?

with contributions from [VE]ςђєzкιє♡

Lately, some Pico players have an abnormal a mount of Gummies. Very high amounts. They can buy all gummy items they want! It's nice to have a lot of Gummies that didn't come from cheating, isn't it?

Some people get millions of Gummies through cheating. Of course, they're very happy .... but they don't know that they might be banned.

Some  users with huge amounts of Gummies are so happy that they are taking photos of their balances to post to Facebook.

When I go to the GM Games areas I see long lines forming at the game stations. It's nice to see ... but not so nice to our Pico accounts. For more reason than one: if you lose or if the game makes you the victim of a hacker.

I assume that a lot of hackers entered Pico this year ... because hacking activity seems to be on the rise. More innocent Pico players are falling victim.

Some hackers have made a home in the new GM Games area. The hackers approach you in GM Games and say they will give you one-million to one-billion Gummies through game play. This is when they make their move. Somehow, they can give you a negative (-) amount of Gummies ... or a huge amount. Either way, this can draw the attention of Pico's community managers ... and you could get banned.

So dont play with strangers. Be careful. If you have an "abnormal" amount of Gummies you'll be in big trouble.