TruthScape.com  9  The Truth About RuneScape Account and Password Scamming and “Hacking”       9  Typical Causes of RuneScape In-Game Password and Account Scamming

Account Sharing (Giving Your Password to RuneScape Friends) Buying or Selling Accounts In-Game

Okay, so you are smart enough to know not to give your password away to friends online. But are you sure you aren't inadvertently telling them information that could increase your risk of losing your account?

In the TruthScape section called Keeping Personal Information Private, I outline many reasons why you should avoid giving people in the game information about yourself. Jagex even has a specific rule prohibiting players from asking for or giving out personal information. The most important reason for this is to ensure your privacy and physical safety, but a secondary rationale is to help reduce the chances of your account getting hijacked.

So, how can you inadvertently give away information that compromises your account? This can happen, especially over a period of time, by revealing personal information that may seem harmless to you but could prove useful to a scammer. You might give someone little tidbits of info as you get to know them, which could later be a problem For example, you might be having a friendly chat with an online friend who comments that he uses the last four digits of his phone number as his bank PIN; if you say that you do as well, you just compromised your bank's safety. Scammers could even lie about stuff like this in “fishing expeditions” to get you to reveal information about yourself.

Also remember that personal information is used by Jagex as the basis of its recovery questions. The more you tell someone about yourself, your family and your interests, the more you reveal that could endanger your recoveries. It is for this reason that Jagex prohibits people on the RuneScape forums from having discussions that might prompt other players to give away answers to recovery questions—even if they are well-intentioned, friendly conversations.

Here are the recovery questions used in RuneScape; you should never give anyone in the game answers to any of these:

• Where were you born?
  
  
• What was your first pets name?
  
  
• What is your mothers maiden name?
  
  
• What is your mothers middle name?
  
  
• What is your fathers middle name?
  
  
• What was the name of your first school?
  
  
• Who was your first best friend?
  
  
• Who is your favorite cartoon character?
  
  
• Who is your favorite actor/actress?
  
  
• Who is your favorite musician?
  
  
• What is your favorite book?
  
  
• What is your favorite vacation spot?
  
  
• What is your favorite food?
  
  
• Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend?

Also see the list of personal information you should never give out for safety reasons.

Account Sharing (Giving Your Password to RuneScape Friends) Buying or Selling Accounts In-Game