TruthScape.com  9  The Truth About RuneScape Account and Password Scamming and “Hacking”       9  Common Ways Players Get “Hacked” Outside the RuneScape Game

Using Shared or Public Computers Using Private RuneScape Servers

RuneScape is somewhat unique among online role-playing games in that it requires no special software; you just use a Web browser. There are, however, some companies and individuals that create their own software that is intended for use with RuneScape. These are called third-party programs, because they are created by someone other than the user and Jagex (the first and second parties in the RuneScape relationship).

Now, In my overview of the basics of account and password scamming, I described keyloggers—programs that record keystrokes to steal passwords and other private data—and other forms of malware. These programs make stealing account information easy, so scammers will try any way they can think of to get them on your computer. And one of the most common methods they use is—you guessed it—by telling you that they are third-party programs that will improve your RuneScape experience.

The typical “hook” used by these scammers is to tell you that they have cheat software, which will let you connect to RuneScape and get some sort of great advantage: like free gold or items, or editing your stats, or any of the other usual “fake offer” scams. They will usually do this either through emails or web sites. There is no way to create a third-party program that will let you cheat in such ways, so these are always scams. When you download the software and install it, what you've really done is compromise your PC with a keylogger or other malware that will steal your account (and if they charge for the product, wasted your money as well).

A more complicated issue involves third-party clients. These are programs that provide an alternative way of connecting to RuneScape instead of using your Web browser. There are indeed some perfectly safe third-party clients, some of which are widely used because they include features like level calculators (while not claiming to allow you to “cheat” in any way). One of the most widely used is SwiftSwitch, which is shown in Figure 112. However, the fact that these good third-party clients exist means that scammers will try to pass off malware as also being valid third-party clients when they of course are not. So this means that the real clients and the fake ones can be hard to tell apart, and you must be very careful.

Finally, one other issue about third-party clients. In some cases, individuals have made clients that, while definitely not allowing you to cheat in the RuneScape game, offer certain advantages that Jagex has (rightly) decided are unfair. For example, a client that allows someone to bring up the login screen of a world that is full would provide an unfair advantage over people accessing RuneScape by Web browser, and so that client is deemed illegal. Using an illegal client can get your account banned under the provisions of Rule #7, and to make matters more confusing, Jagex has changed the text of that rule regarding what is an acceptable third-party client—several times, which has led to continual redesigns by the developers of reputable third-party clients, like SwiftSwitch.

Bottom line: in most cases, you are best off to just access RuneScape in your Web browser as always. If you want to use a dedicated client, then you can download the official RuneScape Windows client, made by Jagex, which is of course safe. If you decide to use any other third-party clients, then you are on your own: you are advised not to risk any third party software unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.

Using Shared or Public Computers Using Private RuneScape Servers