Scammers Use Social Engineering
Posted on | November 24, 2009 | 2 Comments
Scamming related to World of Warcraft largely depends on the principles of social engineering. For from the scammer’s point of view it is about gaining the victim’s trust. Trust is a key word, as once you gain a persons trust you can make them hand out sensitive information, which would otherwise be much harder to get.
Scamming people online is easier than scamming people in real life, because the scammer typically never comes face-to-face with the victim. While online, the scammer is also able to distance himself from his wrongdoings. By adopting various aliases, as in the case of kwaidan, the scammer is able to unlink his real self from his criminal alter ego.
If you are interested in learning more about social engineering , I suggest buying my book.
According to the Wikipedia definition, social engineering is broken loosely into the following categories:
1. Pretexting
2. Phishing
3. Baiting
4. Quid pro quo
I will try to explain how the different categories are related to the way most scammers go about conning people into giving out sensitive account information. I will mostly concentrate on those methods I have found to be particularly common in relation to online scamming.
Pretexting: Pretexting is defined as the act of creating and using an invented scenario to persuade a targeted victim to release information or perform an action. From a scammers point of view, pretexting is about shaping the way a victim views, understands and interprets the scammer’s actions. If I tell you I am an authority on something, you are more likely to believe what I am saying to be true. If I tell you I have done this many times before without ever encountering any problems, you are more likely to accept my future proposals. Why wouldn’t you? It has obviously worked for a lot of people before.
Pretexting is also used by scammers to shape a certain character. I’ve heard of cases in which the scammer took on the role of a father with kids. The scammer pulled it off so convincingly that most of his victims had no worries handing over their account information. The scammer seemed so trustworthy and honest. The defninition continues: “Pretexting can also be used to impersonate co-workers, police, bank, tax authorities, or insurance investigators — or any other individual who could have perceived authority or right-to-know in the mind of the targeted victim. The pretexter must simply prepare answers to questions that might be asked by the victim. In some cases all that is needed is a voice that sounds authoritative, an earnest tone, and an ability to think on one’s feet.”
Phishing: We’ve been over this one before. Phishing is a technique of fraudulently obtaining private information. Typically, the phisher sends an e-mail that appears to come from a legitimate business—a bank, or credit card company—requesting “verification” of information and warning of some severe consequences if it is not provided.
Quid pro quo: Something for something. This is often a method used by middle men. The scammer will help you solve a problem and in return demand some sort of information. In relation to account trading, the middle men often acts as a secure link between a buyer and a seller. However, as witnessed so many times, the middle man often succumbs to temptation and abuses the trust confided in him. In other reported cases, the middle man will try to black mail one side of the trade – typically once he has secured valuable information.
You can read much more about social engineering here. It will definitely open your eyes to the devious ways of a scammer. Through education we can hopefully bring down the number of victims dramatically.
Tags: Avoid Scammers > Safety
Another Scammer Bites The Dust
Posted on | November 23, 2009 | 7 Comments
As the end of November approaches with haste it’s time to look back on YourAccountSeller.com’s first month. November has been mostly great but also marred by the resurfacing of a notorious scammer. People really seem interested in adopting a more professional approach to account selling and scam detection.
Another clear sign of success is the amount of e-mails I’ve received from scammers threatening me to close down the site using all means necessary. The threats have proved futile and I am proud to say YourAccountSeller.com is here to stay.
The said culprit is Kwaidan alias Claus Arne Houmann Skjødt. This guy has a long track record of scamming people online and was convicted in absentia last year in Danish court of justice. In the beginning of his malicious career he made a living conning people by selling electronics, namely iPhones and computer equipment, to unsuspecting online shoppers. He accepted the money in advance and promised to send the item, but never did. A simple Google search reveals his criminal past. Some time has passed since his last conviction and it was only recently he resurfaced.
This time he scammed an unsuspecting American, alias Holyavenger, for over $1,200.
Claus Arne Houmann Skjødt alias Kwaidan represents a rare breed in scammers. He scams people using his real name, real address and real phone number. He solely relies on two factors: A lack of evidence and the fact that people seem to think the Police are uninterested in solving these online crimes. This is far from true. The Police do care and what it ultimately comes down to is the number of complaints. Once the Police do get involved, crimes related to online scams are very easily solved. People like Kwaidan leave a massive trail of easily obtainable evidence because they are so motivated by greed.
You can now experience first hand how YourAccountSeller.com helped bring Claus Arne Houmann Skjødt to his knees, by completely devastating his defenses and ridiculously naive excuses. His criminal past was largely exposed using the techniques described here.
Tags: Avoid Scammers > How to Sell A WoW Account
Can’t Get Your WoW Account Sold?
Posted on | November 11, 2009 | No Comments
Your account has been for sale for a while now. No significant interest yet. Does this sound familiar to you? As an extra service to our many visitors YourAccountSeller.com is launching a brand new innovative service.
Let us help you find a buyer. With our extensive network of people interested in buying legitimate accounts your account could be sold in as little as one day. If we for some reason can’t manage to sell it. At the moment this service is only available to European account holders.
Using our expertise we’ll make sure to find just the right buyer for you. All you need to do is submit some information about your character so we can start working on getting it sold. Every time a buyer contacts us with an offer for you, we’ll first make sure the buyer is legit. If the said buyer lives up to our strict requirements, we’ll pass on his offer to you. This way you’ll save a lot of time trying to figure out whether people are serious or not.
We will never ask you to submit your account name, password or any such critical information. All we need to know is the account content, so we can design a sales pitch for your account.
Can you really afford not to accept this offer? You have nothing to lose – and everything to gain. Please note: YourAccountSeller.com largely leaves pricing up to the market. Even though you feel your account is worth €500, prospective buyers may only want to pay half of this amount. If this is the case, you are of course free we leave it up to you to decide if you want to sell it or not: We simply leave the buyers offer on the table for you to evaluate.
Get started now by submitting your information in the contact form below. Even though we are extremely busy, we strive to reply to all e-mails within 1-2 business days. YourAccountSeller.com must stress that your e-mail address and other personal information will never be shared with any third party.
<removed due to excessive spam>
Tags: How to Sell A WoW Account > Sælg WoW account
Here’s What it Takes to Run the World of Warcraft
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | No Comments
This post has nothing to do with scamming. GameSpot.com has conjured up this interesting article describing in detail the resources it takes to maintain the World of Warcraft. Apparently it takes some 4,000 employees and 75,000 CPU cores. Fascinating reading for all of us who many times have wondered if the World of Warcraft servers were powered by two hamsters on a treadmill.
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