False Information on Account Info

Ok guys...
I have a friend that has been in SL for 3 years and had left SL awhile back and rejoined 9 months ago on a new account.
No clue what he was thinking but he gave a false name, birth date etc.

Well now 9 months later he is becoming known again and running a successful business in SL and realized this whole time his SL account has no real owner...

How would he fix this? If he contacted LL would they fix all his info with correct info, or will they end up taking his account?

What would LL do in a situation like this?

I don't know that we users can answer that question. It might well depend on exactly how the user expressed himself, and on which particular Linden staff person handled it.

It doesn't really make all that much difference, so long as your friend does not pass out his password to someone else. Look at it this way; say John Smith has an account - just how many John Smith's are out there. Millions probably, so giving his name at account inception does nothing to identify him as the owner - the only it would is if we were also asked for our real life address and telephone number, as World of Warcraft does. If ID verification comes in, he should contact LL to get it sorted out. Otherwise, he can always just setup a new basic account with the correct info, transfer ownership of his business to them and carry on with that account if it really bothers him.

Basically, let sleeping dogs lie until IDV comes in.

At some point in my alt making career, some of my names were disabled. I had to fill out a special support ticket saying my account was disabled and that I wanted it back. I had put in false information in the real life section of the screen names. They gave all of my names back that I asked for provided that I sent an email from the email address associated with the name; I also sent them my real life name, bithday, zipcode, home address, etc.

Here is my suggestion on what your friend should do:

First I would try calling them; if the Lindens find out the info in the account is fake, it will be disabled. Normally basic accounts are not supposed to get support, but if your account is disabled, they will let you fill out a special support ticket.

If that doesn't work, tell your friend to send a support ticket with the email address that is associated with the fraudulent account. Tell them you are very sorry, but you didn't know it was against the rules to put in fake information in the real life section of the registration. Offer to tell them the password to the account if necessary, but don't send the password in the first email. They may ask who is on the account's friends list and what the answer is to the security question. I would send all of your real life info in the email such as your real first and last name while requesting they change the details in the accounts real life section. They changed the details on each of my accounts that I wanted back and sent me an email within 24 hours.

Thanks Gaybot, that was very helpful.. I will let my friend know

Thank you everyone for your help =)

If you look at the police blotter, you'll see that supplying false RL details usually gets a warning or a brief suspension, presumably giving people the chance to supply their real RL details. So there must be a procedure in place for this.

The dogs may be able to slumber on even after IDV.
So far, LL have described "IDV" as "Age Verification". The process is intended to be a confirmation that the holders of the accounts who submit to IDV are over 18.
The process as described thus far can not match the RL name on the account with the RL name submitted in the IDV process. Account information held by LL and the RL information submitted to the IDV service provider are to be ring-fenced from each other. The only thing to be passed from LL to the IDV service provider is a token that LL can match to an account.
The IDV provider can only pass back an indication that whatever details are entered in connection with that token appear to correspond to those of an adult.

IDV does not confirm identity of an account holder.
It doesn't even confirm age of an account holder.
It's purely an insurance/PR exercise.



If the dog has to be woken up, then whoever deals with the issue at the LL end would have to be incredibly anal if they zapped any accounts coming out with their hands up.
LL should be wanting to keep accounts active.

I see your principle and agree but it doesn't hurt the honest account holder to have true details logged at LL. We do know that some false basics have been frozen at least.

I have wonder about this but for other reasons.
I understand them wanting to know you're of age, aka thats why they ask for your birthdate.
I understand them wanting to know you're email account so they can contact you about things,etc.
But why is anyone's real life gender anyone's business? Including LL?
Example there is a lot of transgendered or transexual people depending on where you are accessing their personal information you may find 2 different gender identifications.
IDV when it happens is voluntary and majority unless they need to go to adult sex places won't bother. I know I sure won't

This is the section of the TOS that deals directly with your question:




Given that, I would follow Gaybot's suggestions PDQ.

Yes IDV is primarily a PR move, but with the bevy of SL related lawsuits popping up, I would think the PR move wasn't limited to to just 'protecting the children' but also to protect business ventures in world.

The Lindens have stated before that if someone wants to update or correct original registration information, they can contact a Linden for assistance. Basic accounts can do it by contactiung a Linden in-world at Help Island.

Merely explain that you want to ensure that the original information is all accurate and current, and that you believe some 'real world' data may not be. They will send you an e-mail with a link for a form that will allow you to correct the information.

Hi FD! <wave>

I'm not sure if this is off topic to the original post; it wasn't mentioned specifically but this might help anyone worried about the gender thing. LL really aren't concerned about RL gender. There is a tick box in the account sign-up and that is the end of it.

For accuracy, my first alt, female, I ticked the male so LL records would be accurate. As it turned out all that one year ago, she had a problem upgrading to premium and after emails I ended up having to phone support. Very odd technical matter showed her as non-existant on their records and the Linden on the phone asked to meet her in-world. I complied and despite the initial surprise and shock (for both of us maybe!) my support Linden was charming, polite .. and dammit .. supportive! He sorted out the problem most satisfactorily and I have not so far received any blackmail letters as a result. There really isn't a problem with being honest.

I'm sure if the person explains as suggested, the providers will grant his request. keeping the Quatloos rolling in is a good thing, keeping a successfu resident business going should be a priority for them.

Given that LL was requesting correct information from quite a few accounts, freezing them until the information was supplied... I'd assume that someone coming forward voluntarily wouldn't have any problems getting the information corrected, nor should they suffer any negative affects from it.

i know it's against TOS to provide false information, so i'd say depending on the mood of the Linden your friend talks to, it's a 50/50 toss up of which way it will go. sadly, they don't follow 'set rules' and make a lot of decisions on 'circumstance', so there's no way to guess-timate what the outcome might be.