Introduction

This guide will make sure you stay safe while playing Runescape or using the internet in general. A general rule of thumb is to use common sense, if something 'feels wrong' or is too good to be true, it probably is.

Anti Hack Guide

Use Firefox Internet Browser


Firefox is proven to be more secure than Internet Explorer, and is used by millions of people already. It is free and easy to download:

Good Security Programs to Download:

• Spybot Search and Destroy
• Ad-aware
• Windows Washer

Download and always run...

• Zone Alarm

Buy Anti Virus Software. I suggest Norton or Mcafee

Windows users should go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and download all the critical patches.

Security Tips

• Don't use your Runescape password for anything else.
• Don't tell anyone your password, not even your friends.
• Make your password alpha-numeric i.e. with numbers and letters and have it be at least 8 characters long. i.e. b145hgd8op
• Change your password regularly, at least every month.
• Set a pin code on your Runescape Bank and make sure it's not easy to guess. i.e. Not your birthday or birthyear.
• Always be careful when downloading files on the internet or off chat clients like MSN or AIM, especially if the file ends with:
  .exe
  .zip
  .rar

Common Scams

This Guide will list all the common and uncommon scams out there, if you know some not listed, post in the forums and it will be added to the list with your credits. this is to make people aware of scams, NOT to teach them how.

• 100k to 1k
  Often found when selling something for things under 1 million gold, they simply remove 98996 gold after a sec of time to make it appear like 100k is still there when in fact your now getting 1004 gold, to a quick glancing eye the 4 can be mistaken for a k
  Solution: wait 4 seconds before hitting 2nd accept button and review screen carefully, never be in a hurry.

• Rock Hammer as a Granite Maul
  This scam works on those wishing to buy a granite maul, technically its not agianst the rules to scam this way, but it is a scam none the less. Sellers says " Selling Rock Hammer 600k" *seller is holding a granite maul* Buyer says "ill buy your granite maul", seller says "allright, ill sell you my rock hammer, hows 600k sound?" to a person who never owned a granite maul before, they may think its just called rock hammer in trade, and the icon of a rock hammer does look like a granite maul, thus the guy buys a rock hammer thinking it is the huge granite maul and ends up 600k poorer

• Hurried Remove
  When Buyer really sees a good deal they somtiems hurry, seller can remove the item without buyer ever nowing, thus buyer is scamed
  Solution: wait 4 seconds and review 2nd trade screen carefully

• Jagex blocks password
  this scam takes your password from you. Scammer says "Look Jagex blocks your pass! see! ******** " . scammie says Cool! my ******** is Banana! " -- " ohh **** it didnt block my ******** " thus you just said your password is banana to the scammer.

• Free armor trimming
  armor cant be trimes, its made the way it is, dont trade your armor to anyone who says they can trim it

• Free gem cutting, smithing, fletching
  half the time these are legit, half are scams, do not let them do it without collateral, if they are truely just doing it for exp, they wouldnt mind giving you a semi equal in value item to hold onto while they do your task. Remeber, waiting for friends is normally the safest.

• Quitting RS and Auctions Stuff
  A person states they are quitting Runscape and are 'auctioning' their stuff, they ask you to give them your bids so he can see who bids the highest, the winner gets all his stuff, and the loosers get their gear back -- scammer teleports away and you loose your gear

• Duplicating Items
  Scammer tells you that by droping an item and pressing [atlt][f4] your item will be duplicated on the ground and you can pick the 2 up, they may tell you variations of this but it always involves dropping and pressing alt f4

  ~*notice*~ for those who dont know, Alt F4 is a error ecaping method on windows computers, it is ment to close any program without saving or 2nd chance, by pressing this you will close your runescape client/ worldchanger/ browser ect.. it closes whatever program you are currently using, never press this while playing runescape

• Follow Me/Help Me to/at xxx for free stuff
  In This scam the scammer asks you for desperate help and asks you to follow him, along the way he befriends you and talks to you nicely, he drags you to a secluded place where most likely you would be killed, whether it be deep wilderness or high level zone, its the scammers choice, either way, dont follow him

• Other Than RS Websites
  If anything other than Runescape.com asks you for a runescape username or password, dont do it. they will get your info and hack your account, taking all your gear with them.

• Item Type Switches
  Scammer changes a valueable item which you want to buy for a simmilar but of less value item, for example:
  White party hat for Purple Hat
  Rune G for Rune T
  Magic Logs for Oak Logs

  Solution:Be very careful on these trades as normally big money is involved. Do [color=red] NOT[/color] rush

• The Trust Scam
  The Scammer asks you to give him an item and in return hell give you the item back as well as giving a gift/acceptance into a clan/or some other bogus thing. Either way, don not do it as youll just loose your item.

• Give me the Most...
  This Scam has it so that the scammer asks a group of people to give him money for an item, whoever gives the most money gets the item, and you have to give the money, not just say an offer, scammer leaves and everyone is left poor

• Jagex Impersonators
  Some random people will PM ytou asking you for your passoword by saying "Hello, sir this is jagex staff talking to you. We have just recently recieved a abuse form sent by XXX and he said you have used offensive language against him. In order for us to see if he is just simply some one that you don't know, you must provide us with your password or we will just have to ban you."

  *Note*
  1: Jagex will never ask for your password EVER
  2: Jagex Mods have crowns before their names in chats
  3: Jagex staff CAN NOT BAN YOU on the spot, without review
  4: Jagex staff will NEVER give free gear

• Alchemy/Enchanting Scams
  This is when the Scammer brings a rather new Runescape player to a secluded area ( to prevent knowledgable RS players from interfering ) and tells them that he can enchant the item to make it better, or alchemy it to give more gold than what it can be sold for. wither way, its a scam, and even thought their is a High Alchemy spell, its never worth it unless its a rune Med :)

• Non-Tradeable Items
  Non-tradeable items can NOT be transfered from one character to another IE: Bunny ears, Scythe, Rubber Chickens ECT...
  In this scam, the scammer tells you that he can "drop" the item and in a minute or two itll appear on the groud, just like when a person is PKed or drop party or drop item transfer - time passes then the gear appears to everyone. The scammer tells you that since the item needs to be droped you need to give him the money before it appears, to gaurentee his money so YOU dont scam him.. you give him the money and he dissapears. now your left itemless and moneyless

• Free Account
  somebody says they are quitting RuneScape and that they are giving his/her account away for free. They give the password then log off and wait a couple hours/days for the person to put his stuff in the account. Then change the password with recovery questions and steal all the stuff.
  Solution: If somebody ever gives you a free account Change the recovery question and password before moving in, or Don’t take free accounts~

• Team Scams
  This scam involves two people who work together to scam people, Scammer 1 is in an area normally far from main selling areas: IE Fally park, Barbarian Village, The church/castle in varrock ect -- Scammer one says he buys an every day (normally rarely carried) item at an outrageous price like "Buying pie tin for 10k" a pie tin is easy to get but not many people have them in stock unless their cooks - you the Sammie thinks "ohh wow! i can get good money" you rush off to the bank where Scammer 2 is - Scammer two is like "Selling Pie Tin 2k" and here you the victim thinks " that guy out there is buying for 10k and this guy is selling for 2k - thats 8k profit! " you buy the tin at the crazy price and run back, the guy isnt there, or he just never buys from you - now your 2k poorer and the scammers got money the legal way

  * Legal ways means they did not directly break any jagex rules, you consented to buy the tin at 2k, and the 10k guy has no obligation to buy from you *

• Luring
  Luring has now been made impossible due to the removal of the ability to attack players in the wilderness. More information is needed concerning reverants and how/if they are used.
  

• Changing "K" to "4"
  This scam consists of the scammer putting up the players asking price, then distracting the player by putting up random items then changing the K to a 4, thinking they will not see. For example, buyer (scammer) puts up 400k for a Zamorak Full Helm, he puts up a lobster then changes the 400k to 4004 and accepts. The Seller ends up with 4k and a lobster while the scammer flees.

  This guide will make sure you stay safe while playing Runescape or using the internet in general. A general rule of thumb is to use common sense, if something 'feels wrong' or is too good to be true, it probably is.

Security Tips

• Don't use your Runescape password for anything else.
• Don't tell anyone your password, not even your friends.
• Make your password alpha-numeric i.e. with numbers and letters and have it be at least 8 characters long. i.e. b145hgd8op
• Change your password regularly, at least every month.
• Set a pin code on your Runescape Bank and make sure it's not easy to guess. i.e. Not your birthday or birthyear.
• Always be careful when downloading files on the internet or off chat clients like MSN or AIM, especially if the file ends with:
  .exe
  .zip
  .rar

Bank Pins

Bank Pins are a 4 digit code, which you must enter the first time you use a bank when you log in. You have to click buttons rather than typing in keys, so it is unlikely to be stolen by a keylogger.

To set a pin code, you must go to a bank and talk to a banker (some banks do not allow pins to be set). Ask him to set a bank code, and you will then have to key in the PIN code you would like twice.

When choosing a PIN Code

• It should not be your birthdate

• It should not be your birthyear
• It should not be something easy to guess, like "0000"

After you have set the code, you must wait 7 days before it becomes active, to stop others from setting a PIN on your account.

If you forget your pin code, select the 'I don't know it' option. You PIN will be removed in a few days.

Remember, never tell anyone your PIN code.

What to do When Hacked

If you get hacked, to recover your account just follow these steps...

1. Goto the password support link on the home page of www.runescape.com
2. Click on "password support", and then click it again on the page that comes up, and enter your username and your email. Then select "someone else has changed my password" from the drop down menu. Click submit.
3. Enter "I don't know" as an answer for all the password recovery questions, if you do not know them or they have been changed.
4. Enter the first password used on the account, and ALL of the previous passwords below that. (thats the most important part)
5. Enter your postcode, and when you previously last logged in (if you don't know when you last logged in, leave it blank).
6. Enter the password that you want it to be changed to.
7. In the "other information" box at the bottom, enter what is in bold below, and fill in the bits with the brackets. (e.g. (city) - put which city you live in.)

   I am (first and last name) and live in (city), (state), (country). I have been hacked and they changed my password and my recovery questions. Now i cant log back in.
   Note: Only say they changed your recoveries if they actually did.

8. Enter as much information about your account as you can after the above sentance, then click send. It wont automatically accept it, you will have to click "continue", and send a query to the staff of Jagex. they should accept it after a day or two hopefully.

What a Keylogger is and Does

Someone who wants to keylog/breakinto the victims computer will always get in touch with you through MSN, AOL, or anyother instant messanging service program, they will be VERY friendly, I MEAN VERRRRRRY FRIENDLY. Also, if any of you EBAY MONEY OR BOTTING PROGRAMS ON THE INTERNET, WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO, dont ever ebay a botting program cause chances are its either netbus, or subseven.

Here is a sample of what these programs can do:

Open CD-ROM dive Close CD-ROM drive
Show images
Swap mouse bottons
Run programs
Send messages
Screendump(see whats on there screen)
Get computers info
Regedit
Play run sounds
Shut down computers
Active windows
Control mouse
Keylogger(see what there typing on there keyboard)
and of course File manager

These are LITERALLY commands listed on this thing once you download the .exe file, they can do to you. to put it in simple terms, the satellite of the programs. Now, if you are downloading a netbus(the program they use to hack your computer) executable file, then the icon will be a satellite, which is appropriate for what it does. It creates a link between the hacker, and his victim. Now the only thing he has to do now is find your IP adress which really isn't hard at all with the MS-DOS:CMD: NETSTAT -N. There fore they can do whatever they want with your computer..aftr they have your runescape account, if you use paypal frequently ALL the information they need to buy things on the internet, and anything personal you might have.

Now I repeat again, there is another thing about the .exe file. THE ICON FOR THE .EXE FILE WHICH WILL CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER CAN BE CHANGED TO WHATEVER THEY WANT! For example lets say you two are talking about monster trucks. He could change the icon on the .exe to fool you into downloading it. he could change it into a monster truck to fool you.

A final note, I dont got any respect for these sad excuses of hackers, because they make the real ones look like bad. These guys are not hackers, they are what i like to call(and everyother hacker) a script kiddy.