NeoItems.net: How To Keep Your Account(s) Safe

How To Keep Your Account(s) Safe
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Please note that the following guide is just my own opinion and recommendations. I am glad to say that I have never been scammed or frozen and I intend to keep it that way :)

Email Address:
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When you create an account on Neopets you need to specify an email address. This way they can send you your password if you forget it as well as Auction results, Birthday Greetings and other notices. If at all possible you should use a proper email address and not one from the free online email sites like Hotmail.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com etc. Most ISP's allow people more than one email address so ask your parents to look into this or contact your ISP yourself. This has the added bonus that you have one less password to remember! :)

This is why......

Online email websites usually use a secret phrase and answer in order to determine whether you are the owner of that email account. Most people use really really simple questions and answers like pet names, children's names etc. A scammer could probably find out enough information from just talking with you for 5 minutes to find out your answer, access your email account and change the password on you. Then it is a simple process to request your password from Neopets and BINGO - they log into your account and steal everything.

If you have no choice but to use an online email account try and keep it a secret from everyone. You could have two - one especially for Neopets and the other for everyday use. A big giveaway would be to have the same email address as your Neopets user name - try and make it completely different. Never use the secret question - there are other ways to remember your password. Be sure to read the next section on choosing passwords too!

Be suspicious at all times......

I get a lot of Neomails saying the following (or variations): "you seem kool! im a newbie and i was wondering if you had msn or email so we could chat or sumthing?". While this might be innocent they could also be seeing if I use one of the online email services. After all - there is nothing stopping them from talking to me via NeoMail. If you get such a message always report it to Neopets so they can keep an eye on that person.

AIM/MSN/ICQ etc.:
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If you have to use these chat programs only give your screen name to close friends and never give out too much personal information. Scammers use these programs to try and get to know you and help them guess what your password might be. Make sure your password follows the rules below:

Passwords:
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There are several basic rules on passwords:

1) Never use something simple like a pets name.
2) Never use the same password twice i.e. your email password, Neopets password, gallery password etc. should always be different.
3) Change passwords regularly.
4) Use a mixture of numbers, spaces and letters e.g. ne0pet3 (though please do not use this example!)
5) Never tell anyone (not even brothers & sisters) your password.
6) If you have to make a note of it somewhere try good old paper and pen and put it somewhere you will remember.
7) Don't use secret questions if at all possible. If you have to make it very very obscure!

Making Neopoints:
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Only use ONE account to make NeoPoints and play games. It doesn't matter what you have been told (even by the Neo Staff) - if you do this there is absolutely no way you will ever get into trouble. Use secondary accounts strictly as Galleries and to have extra pets. You can transfer money and items to your secondary accounts using the Trading Post or by sending items directly. Making money is actually easier to do on just one account!

Sharing Computers:
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Never share a computer with another Neopet user unless you have absolutely no choice. You never know what your friends might take it into their heads to do. If they suddenly decide to break the rules then your account is in danger too. Every computer on the internet is distinguished by something called an IP Address. Neopets have no way of knowing that you used your friends computer - they just know that two accounts were accessed from the same IP address. If one account has broken the rules then both accounts will be frozen - End of Story. No matter how well you think you know someone you really do not. Of course if you have brothers and sisters there is nothing you can do lol.

Daily Freebees:
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Only ever do the daily freebees on one account and stick to your main account. Again, if you do this it is impossible for you to get into trouble. If you share a computer and all of you do the daily freebees then there is a danger of you all getting frozen. Are these things really worth putting your accounts into danger for? There are much better (and safer) ways of earning NP!

Don't Break The Rules:
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Ignorance is no excuse. Make sure you have read ALL the terms and conditions on Neopets http://www.neopets.com/terms.phtml and if you are not sure what something means, ask! You agreed to these when you created your account and you will be expected to follow them.

If you have any questions or comments about the above please feel free to PM me

p.s. On a side note, this comment was PMd to me and I think it is worth posting:
"People do sometimes get frozen unjustly just because neopets does not have the time to go through every senario and help out every person... and who knows if your lying? Sometimes a person needs to just try to avoid doing things that could even look like it could maybe be scamming, (ie, changing a price of an item in your shop, if someones trying to buy it when you do this, it looks like scamming, or rapidly transfering items, it looks like your clearing out a scammed account) the best way to not be frozen is to know all the cheating/scamming things people do, and be sure that what your doing doesnt look anything like what cheaters and scammers do."

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