Jason O'Connell
Forum Mod
Dang, why do people have to ruin other people's day by hacking them and crashing their computer? Hope you guys can find who did this. In the mean time, I'll keep an eye out for the links and report them.
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Attention: The forums are in read-only mode
Virus Warning
- Thread starter Davy Darkrage
- Start date
Hector wargull
Site Founder
mine happened before we had to get a new hardrive. so i think i'm safe. Oh and who got infected and are they okay?
My letter to POTCO, written today 3/27/2012 ( credit to Leo - I borrowed some of his words):
Dear POTCO Staff,
I hope that you do read the fan forums from time to time to keep up with what is being said about this game and your work. Recently there has been a rash of stolen accounts, and not always due to people giving out their log in information as is suggested by support. Players are being led to web sites that contain key logger viruses that record their log in information and allows hackers to steal their pirate, destroy their hard work, and recruit others to fall into the same trap, all while getting that account perma-banned by you and punishing the innocent and legal holder of that account.
I beg you to put an end to this. I play other MMO's and an IP tracker is a simple step you can take to aid in prevention of this type of theft. Please consider adding additional security measures to thwart these heartless people who use their brains to hurt others.
Thanks for listening,
Kat Five Knives
Dear POTCO Staff,
I hope that you do read the fan forums from time to time to keep up with what is being said about this game and your work. Recently there has been a rash of stolen accounts, and not always due to people giving out their log in information as is suggested by support. Players are being led to web sites that contain key logger viruses that record their log in information and allows hackers to steal their pirate, destroy their hard work, and recruit others to fall into the same trap, all while getting that account perma-banned by you and punishing the innocent and legal holder of that account.
I beg you to put an end to this. I play other MMO's and an IP tracker is a simple step you can take to aid in prevention of this type of theft. Please consider adding additional security measures to thwart these heartless people who use their brains to hurt others.
Thanks for listening,
Kat Five Knives
Misty Moonlight
Site Founder
...and this is why POTCO suspends/bans players that give out this type of information in the game. Just saying...
Jack Scurvyfoote
Notorious Pirate
I know who did it already It was Axel Or Interactive_Glitches sense davy is an admin he can see in the Users IP and Ip Ban his Ip unless he uses a Proxy
Hector Hullgull
Pirate Lord
lol busted
micotheone
Wanted Pirate
I AM SO VERY HAPPY MY DAD IS A COMPUTER GUY!!!!! Now, what I find sad is a lot of people DON'T have a something called "COMMON SENSE" of COURSE never click on anything!!
P.S this reminds me of the time someone trying to hack into POTCO last year or so wonder if it's the same guy
P.S this reminds me of the time someone trying to hack into POTCO last year or so wonder if it's the same guy
Crazy Jonah
Notorious Pirate
are there symptoms to the virus?
James Gunrage
Wanted Pirate
One thing I will advise, being a former IT person for nearly five years, BUY a good FULL Service Internet Security Suite. It is absolutely worth the investment. I know times are hard on everyone, but to many people, their computers are an intricate part of their everyday lives. Just as we protect our home, our children, our cars, and our own lives, we must protect our computers and the information they possess.
I use, but do not promote, Norton Internet Security 2012. I have used Norton since 2010 (ther year they really got it right). It's non-intrusive on your system and can be left alone to do it's work in the background OR set up to be as finicky and aggressive as you please.
Again, I'm not promoting this product as the ONLY solution, but this software has worked so very well for me and is highly recommended by sources such as PC World, PC Mag, Tom's Hardware aficonados, Best Buy, and even Forbes. It is a great product.
Okay, now to the reason I mention BUYING your protection as opposed to free protection. In my experience, and that is not to say I am all knowing or correct, you get what you pay for. Kaspersky, Bitdefender, AVG, and ZoneAlarm also provide excellent service. Norton and Bidefender are commonly seen as the most complete suites AND the easiest to use. The "suites" I mention above provide total protection.
When I say "total" protection I do not mean they are impervious to attack. ANYONE can be hacked no matter how many precautions you have taken. Evil people in this world work overtime to get to our personal information and will stop at nothing to achieve their deviant goals. It is our job to thwart their progress as best we can. A paid, full-service, Internet Security Suite does just that.
What I mean by "total" protection is this:
Each paid suite I mention above provides some sort of real-time antivirus protection AND removal, rela-time malware protection AND removal (including rootkits), a powerful software firewall, anti-spam protection, anti-phishing protection, privacy protection, advanced parental controls, backup abilities, some tuneup abilitiesn and REAL-TIME updating (a must). To each their own in what they seek out and need; that's ALL very individual. However, in these days and times, one that does almost anything online MUST HAVE total protection. You cannot get that kind of reliable protection consistently from a FREE source of anything. I have MANY experts that will agree.
A free anti-virus program alone will just not do the trick any longer. Malware, phishing, privacy, and spam are not covered with anti-virus alone. Malware can be just as harmful, IMO, as an anti-virus. Malware can bring your system to a grinding halt. Free anti-virus protection does some to protect privacy but not nearly enough, not nearly enough. Phishing in anti-virus is just not covered. You need advanced tools to affectively thwart even the simplest of modern hackers and their very real security threats.
In the old days (and that's five years ago) these type of internet suites would literally gulp down all your ram and clog your processor with this and that demand. I'm happy to say that is NO LONGER the case. Most of these suites quitely run in the background and go almost completely unnnoticed. As mentioned earlier though, you can absolutely turn up the knob of aggresiveness and invasiveness, if you so choose. The suites can be modified from the default settings in such a fashion as to completely check every little bit that comes across the line. Most do not need or want that kind of protection. But if you so choose, those options ARE there at your fingertips.
For the average consumer, these suites do not affect their computer performance at all. Turning up that knob I just mentioned will of course consume resources. In my experience, however, if you leave the default settings as is, in most cases, you can feel secure in the knowledge that your privacy and computer is safe. Again, I want to stress, NOTHING is impervious and no security system is perfect. Even with the best protection out there, you CAN BE GOT. However, with a paid, full-service, Internet Security Suite the chances of such occurences happening are diminished significantly.
I fully believe if one is armed with the common sense presented earlier in this thread AND a PAID, full service, Internet Security Suite many of the problems we have seen occur recently COULD be avoided.
Do your own research on security suites and choose the one that's right for you, then BUY it. Read up a bit on common sense, tech-savvy approaches to better ensure your online safety. If you do both of these things described herein, your surfing, playing, overall online experience will be more fun and certainly a whole lot more safer.
I use, but do not promote, Norton Internet Security 2012. I have used Norton since 2010 (ther year they really got it right). It's non-intrusive on your system and can be left alone to do it's work in the background OR set up to be as finicky and aggressive as you please.
Again, I'm not promoting this product as the ONLY solution, but this software has worked so very well for me and is highly recommended by sources such as PC World, PC Mag, Tom's Hardware aficonados, Best Buy, and even Forbes. It is a great product.
Okay, now to the reason I mention BUYING your protection as opposed to free protection. In my experience, and that is not to say I am all knowing or correct, you get what you pay for. Kaspersky, Bitdefender, AVG, and ZoneAlarm also provide excellent service. Norton and Bidefender are commonly seen as the most complete suites AND the easiest to use. The "suites" I mention above provide total protection.
When I say "total" protection I do not mean they are impervious to attack. ANYONE can be hacked no matter how many precautions you have taken. Evil people in this world work overtime to get to our personal information and will stop at nothing to achieve their deviant goals. It is our job to thwart their progress as best we can. A paid, full-service, Internet Security Suite does just that.
What I mean by "total" protection is this:
Each paid suite I mention above provides some sort of real-time antivirus protection AND removal, rela-time malware protection AND removal (including rootkits), a powerful software firewall, anti-spam protection, anti-phishing protection, privacy protection, advanced parental controls, backup abilities, some tuneup abilitiesn and REAL-TIME updating (a must). To each their own in what they seek out and need; that's ALL very individual. However, in these days and times, one that does almost anything online MUST HAVE total protection. You cannot get that kind of reliable protection consistently from a FREE source of anything. I have MANY experts that will agree.
A free anti-virus program alone will just not do the trick any longer. Malware, phishing, privacy, and spam are not covered with anti-virus alone. Malware can be just as harmful, IMO, as an anti-virus. Malware can bring your system to a grinding halt. Free anti-virus protection does some to protect privacy but not nearly enough, not nearly enough. Phishing in anti-virus is just not covered. You need advanced tools to affectively thwart even the simplest of modern hackers and their very real security threats.
In the old days (and that's five years ago) these type of internet suites would literally gulp down all your ram and clog your processor with this and that demand. I'm happy to say that is NO LONGER the case. Most of these suites quitely run in the background and go almost completely unnnoticed. As mentioned earlier though, you can absolutely turn up the knob of aggresiveness and invasiveness, if you so choose. The suites can be modified from the default settings in such a fashion as to completely check every little bit that comes across the line. Most do not need or want that kind of protection. But if you so choose, those options ARE there at your fingertips.
For the average consumer, these suites do not affect their computer performance at all. Turning up that knob I just mentioned will of course consume resources. In my experience, however, if you leave the default settings as is, in most cases, you can feel secure in the knowledge that your privacy and computer is safe. Again, I want to stress, NOTHING is impervious and no security system is perfect. Even with the best protection out there, you CAN BE GOT. However, with a paid, full-service, Internet Security Suite the chances of such occurences happening are diminished significantly.
I fully believe if one is armed with the common sense presented earlier in this thread AND a PAID, full service, Internet Security Suite many of the problems we have seen occur recently COULD be avoided.
Do your own research on security suites and choose the one that's right for you, then BUY it. Read up a bit on common sense, tech-savvy approaches to better ensure your online safety. If you do both of these things described herein, your surfing, playing, overall online experience will be more fun and certainly a whole lot more safer.
Eric Guneagle
Pirate Master
This reminds me of the time I was hacked. I was younger and oblivious at the time. A hacker said that if he had my account information, he could level up my pirates for me. He said "My account has a bunch of cool pirates you can play on." I told him my account information, then I told him to tell me his. Only he didn't. He asked me if there were any linked accounts. He kept stalling me so I wouldn't seem suspicious. Little did I know he was in Manage Account changing my password. Then it was all over. He logged on. I tried logging back in, but it said "Bad Account ID or password." I eventually got it back, but he deleted some things on there. I'll never make the same mistake again. I just think it's horrible that any person would be cruel enough to go out there and hack a child, make them cry, or whatnot. It's just sick and twisted. I ask you all; What has this world come to?
Basil Darkratte
Site Founder
Have they replied? I would like to see what they say.
Eric Guneagle
Pirate Master
Also, the only thing POTCO did about it was ban my account for 3 days, with the hacker still in control of it. POTCO sucks...
James Fireroberts
Honorable Pirate
I cant believe somebody would want to do something like that,that it just sad 
Crazy Jonah
Notorious Pirate
he probably though it would be funny, to trick people into downloading a virusI cant believe somebody would want to do something like that,that it just sad
John Foulroberts
Admin
This really makes me think back to when I first experienced viruses - since then, I've been way more cautious on the internet.
I remember a few years ago, I was surfing the web for something... don't remember what. All of a sudden, I hear that "notice" or "error" noise in the background but nothing APPEARED to pop up... So I'm like "ok??" and continue on to what I was doing.
Anyways, as I am closing out of windows and logging out, I SEE what popped up - some window that said something along the lines of "Click here to improve your identity protection!"... The "no" option was greyed out, so I was forced to click "yes", not knowing that this could be potentially harmful.
The next phase of events happened so quickly - all of a sudden, dozens of popups began spamming my screen and I was racing to close all of them. Little notice bubbles appeared in the corner of my screen saying that info could be stolen, etc... I was set into panic mode and had no idea what to do... I soon realized that these were viruses - my first time experiencing them.
I was forced to wipe my hard drive clean and start fresh - over 40 viruses had chewed away at files... This my friends, is why you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS think before you click.
It is an extremely good idea to have updated antivirus - I use AVG and it works like a charm - it even saved me from this catastrophe. Stuff like AVG, Malwarebytes, SpyBot, and many other numerous programs work excellently against these baddies.
Also use common sense - think before you click, and resist the temptation to click persuading links. No matter how appealing it might be in the beginning, you will totally change your mind later on.
Never give out personal info - no matter how much you trust that person or how nice they are... Your best friend today, your worst enemy tomorrow.
If you are ever having trouble with viruses, a good tactic to use is System Restore - it will restore your system to a past date - it has worked well for me in the past - saved me countless times.
*Please note this is only for Windows PCs, yet I am almost sure Mac has something similar.
Windows 7/Vista can just search "System Restore" in the search bar to access it.
For Windows XP -
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
This will not erase any files saved (pics, music, videos, etc) and is completely safe. Just pick a date, preferably BEFORE you got the viruses, and just let the system reboot.
*If you have any questions on how to deal with issues, feel free to ask me - I am an experienced techie and would be glad to help.
I remember a few years ago, I was surfing the web for something... don't remember what. All of a sudden, I hear that "notice" or "error" noise in the background but nothing APPEARED to pop up... So I'm like "ok??" and continue on to what I was doing.
Anyways, as I am closing out of windows and logging out, I SEE what popped up - some window that said something along the lines of "Click here to improve your identity protection!"... The "no" option was greyed out, so I was forced to click "yes", not knowing that this could be potentially harmful.
The next phase of events happened so quickly - all of a sudden, dozens of popups began spamming my screen and I was racing to close all of them. Little notice bubbles appeared in the corner of my screen saying that info could be stolen, etc... I was set into panic mode and had no idea what to do... I soon realized that these were viruses - my first time experiencing them.
I was forced to wipe my hard drive clean and start fresh - over 40 viruses had chewed away at files... This my friends, is why you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS think before you click.
It is an extremely good idea to have updated antivirus - I use AVG and it works like a charm - it even saved me from this catastrophe. Stuff like AVG, Malwarebytes, SpyBot, and many other numerous programs work excellently against these baddies.
Also use common sense - think before you click, and resist the temptation to click persuading links. No matter how appealing it might be in the beginning, you will totally change your mind later on.
Never give out personal info - no matter how much you trust that person or how nice they are... Your best friend today, your worst enemy tomorrow.
If you are ever having trouble with viruses, a good tactic to use is System Restore - it will restore your system to a past date - it has worked well for me in the past - saved me countless times.
*Please note this is only for Windows PCs, yet I am almost sure Mac has something similar.
Windows 7/Vista can just search "System Restore" in the search bar to access it.
For Windows XP -
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
This will not erase any files saved (pics, music, videos, etc) and is completely safe. Just pick a date, preferably BEFORE you got the viruses, and just let the system reboot.
*If you have any questions on how to deal with issues, feel free to ask me - I am an experienced techie and would be glad to help.
I've had one of those pop ups that doesn't give you the option to hit no as well. A while ago I would log onto my computer and I got a pop up saying it was time for a windows update. The thing is this looked legit. So I clicked yes then my computer just got messed up. So I had to do a system restore. Then within 5 minutes of being online it would pop up again and clicking no or exiting was not an option. So I had to call my service providers help line and they did this weird thing were they were able to control my computer from where they were and they eventually managed to fix it but it took like 2 hours. Now my computer runs automatic virus scans and handles all issues on it's own. I haven't had a problem with my computer in a while. I do occasionally worry about my email possibly being hacked.
James Fireroberts
Honorable Pirate
Yea this has happened to me a few time where ill be looking for something and all of a sudden something will pop up saying CLICK HERE TO GET RID OF VIRUS and my dad has told me not to click on those things btw he is a computer guy because when you click on those things that say they get rid of the virus you are actually downloading ANOTHER virus,so dont fall for that trick ive done it before
Ella Storm
Wiki Staff
Well both forums have been attacked. Both POTCO wiki and Players wiki got attacked last night and POF is the most recent attack he's done. On the POTCO wiki we blocked him, but we are extremely confused because when we looked in our block log there was no block that we did on him. We notified wikia about him and now were stuck waiting 2-3 business days.