Reader Submitted: Fake SL Login Screen

 

 From The Orange Floof (FriendlyDaWusky Resident). This is an image of what looks like an SL login screen. But checking the Internet address, one can see this is a fake. This was almost certainly meant to to was to get passwords and account names as a "phishing" scheme, then hack the account and swipe all their Lindens.

 

A reminder to be careful when clicking on strange links, and double check what you're logging into.

  

 

 

 

DJ Matt Sets Up GoFundMe After Robbery

 
DJ Matt (Matt Carlton) raised plenty of dollars for the Relay for Life in Second Life, such as the DJ competition in April. Unfortunately, she herself right now is in need of money. Her luck recently took a turn for the worst. Her storage shed was broken into, and a number of items were stolen, notably lawn equipment and kitchen appliances.

We found my shed was broken into at my property on Monday, all my lawn equipment was stolen as was all my small kitchen appliances and cookware I was storing in there while redoing wiring and drywall at the house. They took some other miscellaneous stuff, like and old PC and some old radios, but not as bad as the other things. Anything easy to snatch was gone.  I been staying with my parents furring this remodel but now this has really screwed us over. I did not have insurance for this property either. I hate asking for help but I'm at a loss as to what to do. Anything is appreciated. I am even currently selling my old Pathfinder just to try and get extra cash to get a more efficient car just to make deliveries to try and dig out of this hole I am in, but it just seems to keep getting deeper. I'm not great at asking things like this so....I guess I'll leave it at this. Thankfully the house was not harmed and the shed door just needs new hinges....

Matt set up a GoFundMe for anyone wishing to donate. As of the writing of this article, $20 has been donated.

Other ways to get money to her include purchasing items from her small online store, or getting a copy of her cookbook.

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on Team Diabetes' Question About Missing Money

On January 8, the Newser reported on Team Diabates in Second Life stating someone had spammed their group chat during a fundraiser event on December 30, saying he was doing an event of his own for charity and that the money would go to Team Diabetes. But none of this money, over 100,000 Lindens according to the man, never made it to the Team. The Newser had messaged the man in question, Oenneo Resident, but never got a response.

Shortly afterward, Oenneo's partner ϮŁσrίŁуηη ŞŧαrşíđєrϮ (LoriLynnGrimes Resident) sent the Newser an angry message, one  that I won't go in detail other than it was an outpouring of anger and a claim that the American Diabetes Association was investigating Team Diabetes in Second Life. But when I contacted the American Diabetes Association, they answered this was not true and there was no investigation. When I was online, she contacted me, being more cordial, but still upset with one of the groups she had mentioned, and insisted the money raised had gone directly to the American Diabetes Association rather than through Team Diabetes.

A few days ago, LoriLynnGrimes would sent a message of apology to Team Diabetes and OYO Breedables, saying Oenneo had confessed to lying about the money he raised from the chat spamming going to charity.

I want to first apologize to you all. I will explain. I had no reason to doubt neo. He was my heart and I loved him and ultimately trusted him. I sadly trusted the wrong person and it was not only you two whom were hurt in the process. He never paid a charity I am finding out now. I gave him the earnings from the raffle we had and he did not do as he said. But what he did do was pay for a massive building to be made called "The Ark."  He plans to open it up in March called "Galaxy Enterprises presents the Ark Experience."

I am so disgusted and ashamed and would somehow like to do what needs to be done to make it better. I am heart broken he took all that money. Even if I have to pay every week to square the promise donation I will. I am so very truly sorry. I am just so sick and so humilated in what he did. I will also do whatever needs to be done to make things right. I am so devasted and feel so used and exploited. I wanted so badly to help people and he took advantage of me and also my patrons. He disclosed to me this evening he did not give the money to the american diabetes. I felt my whole world crumbled just then. I was so so devasted. I broke up with him instantly and also closed the business I shared with him. I cannot be with such a vile heartless human being. I am so sad he did this and hurt so many people. I hope to hear from you soon in how to make things right.

My son ******* was killed this past October and I was not really complete when I began really trusting Neo. I was destroyed by my sons murder. I have no accuse for my mouth other then I truly felt Neo was being honest. I was at sucha weak point in my life and allowed him to control every aspect of my business and I did not see what he was doing.

Anyways I am truly sorry for everything and I will make this right. Just need to know how.

So it seems there's finally an answer on what happened to the money in question. How LoriLynnGrimes will "make things right" with Team Diabetes remains to be seen.

Bixyl Shuftan

Eye on the Blog: "An Important Reminder About Account Security"

The following was posted by Linden Lab yesterday.

It has come to our attention that some Residents are sending messages - which may appear as popup windows in some viewers - informing other Residents that their accounts have been compromised and encouraging them to contact Support, using a phone number that is not associated with Linden Lab.

 

These messages are phishing attempts to gain access to your Second Life account. Neither Linden Lab, nor Second Life Customer Support, would attempt to contact you in this manner. You can always find Linden Lab’s official customer support contact methods within the following links:

 

https://support.secondlife.com/billing-support/

https://support.secondlife.com/contact-support/

 

As always, please be wary of suspicious messages and contact from other users. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us via support case at https://support.secondlife.com/

Hat Tip: Fuzzball Ortega 

Ripoffing Artists

Shortly after writing about Arcadia Asylum, Theonlyjohnny  came across some bad news. Someone was copying their goods and offering duplicates for sale listing themselves as the builder, with no credit given to the real makers. They way the copier went about covering his tracks was so clumsy, it in itself was a red flag.

Readtheonlyjohnny's article in Extra.

Sneak Preview From Xymbers

Xymbers Slade has been taking a break from the Grid lately, although a message he got recently from a Mindy Runo did get his interest:

Not sure if you still roam SL grid or not, but I have recently read your page about the free furry avatar warehouse, I am glad that it seems to no longer exist, however what I am IMing you about, is if perhaps when you're roaming around, you can keep an eye out for "Free Meeroo" mods. A friend of mine was recently hit by a copybotter, and were trying to find out who did it.

Xymbers says he'll try to have an article of his investigations up by next week.

Dutch Supreme Court Rules Runescape Virtual Theft a Real-Life Crime

On Tuesday Jan 31st, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled over a case in which two boys had beaten up a third and threatening him with a knife forced him to log onto the game and drop his possessions where one of his assailants was waiting to pick them up. Most notable were a knife and amulet. The crime took place in 2007, and a lower court found the defendants guilty in 2009. One of them appealed to the Supreme Court of Holland.

The convicted thief based his appeal on the argument that the stolen goods "were neither tangible nor material and, unlike for example electricity, had no economic value." He also brought up the Runescape terms of service, stating the virtual goods were the property of Jagex, the company behind the game.


You agree that all intellectual property or other rights in any game character, account and items are and will remain our property. Jagex owns all rights in the Jagex Products, and you are only granted permission to use such products, subject to and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.


The court ruled that the items had value because of the “time and energy” spent in getting them, and at the time of the theft they were the “exclusive dominion” of the victim. Therefore, the taking of these virtual goods was just as against the law as real items.

Tateru Nino thought this ruling was an interesting landmark ruling. Although virtual goods are legal property, in just about every legal jurisdiction they are the property of the “service provider.” This ruling she felt gives the Dutch users themselves property rights to the goods. So at least in Holland she felt, MMOs and virtual worlds didn’t have quite the same power over their users that they used to.

Virtualpolicy.net commented, “This case is significant because it changes the relationship between individuals and service providers in respect of digital objects. That is, Runescape’s contract clearly states that the players of the game do not own the game or any of the digital objects within it, whether they control them or not. This has long been a contentious matter as there is a large trade in the sale of objects between players for hard currency, so called Real Money Trading. This ruling means that there is a degree of control that someone can have over an object which is sufficient for that object to be stolen.”

For now, only Dutch gamers and virtual world residents are affected by this ruling. But there have been similar legal cases in South Korea and Asia in which “judges have displayed a general trend to grant more rights to players than are stated in their contract and to see digital objects as being akin to physical property in certain important respects.” This case could very well influence similar ones that are likely to come up elsewhere in Europe and the Americas.

Currently, Second Life’s Terms of Service allow residents intelectual property rights over their creatied content in the game. But the legal jargon is a bit slippery, Tateru Nino stating Linden Lab says they own “the bits and bytes of electronic data stored on its Servers.”

Sources: MSNBC, Jagex, Dwell on It, Virtualpolicy.net

Bixyl Shuftan

Phishing Scam

Xymbers Slade recently found something in one of his groups, "Just got this out of one of the Mentor groups I'm a part of --- those scammers just never seem to give up. So spread the word, that this one's a scam."


Dear Second Life user,

Due our latest IP Security upgrades we have limited access to sensitive Second Life account features.
Protecting the security of your account is our primary concern
We understand that this may be an inconvenience.
Please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

How can I restore my account access?

Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser.
Once opened, you will be provided with steps to update your account.
We appreciate your understanding as we work to
ensure account safety.

If we detect a sign in with your username from another country we may decide that we want to
confirm that it's really you. You must complete all steps otherwise you will not be able to use
the online service until we have completed additional security checks.


We apologize for any inconvenience

Copyright 2011 Linden Research, Inc. Linden Lab 945 Battery St. San Francisco, CA 94111


It should be reminded that it's not just Mentor groups open to such swindels, but any with open enrollment.

SL Machinima: Podex Bank Robbery

Jacek Shuftan of Podex pointed out another attempt at a bank robbery at Podex. They got farther than "Clumsy Cooper" ever did. But unlike the masked man, these bandit's won't be coming back to the Grid.

Sim Deleted by Owner to Protest Content Theft

After being struck by a content thief again and again, Maxwell Graf, the owner of the LagNmoor sim made the decision for some drastic action: delete the sim. Second Life Newser recently met up with Maxwell, and talked with him about what led him to this desperate choice.

Read the story in Places.