Aaach!! Scammed by the A/C draining Script

I'm such an idiot .. While I was working in a sandbox a young lady asked for help with a valentines gift ... 'script not working'. Well to cut to the bone ... later on while checking out the problem for her, I did give it access to my account (...dummy). Of course 1000L$ chunks drained away clunk, clunk clunk .... (I know I should have lent my credit to my alt before tinkering. Easy to be wise after ...)

Is there any point in trying for restitution / getting the villians accounts closed / ..... ?? Or just chalk it up to experience and move on...

I have names, logs of what happened etc. and the perp. is not replying to a polite request to pay back (there's a surprise ...). What is the most effective action, I just want some justice, the money is not so important (7000L$).

In the past I would have told you not to waste your time, however recently we've been hearing of some success stories of the Lindens paying people their money back for events like this. The person may be using an alt, but they could end up having their accounts shut down if they are all using the same IP address.

Sounds like you have great records. I would submit a tick with all the information you have and see what happens.

Whats the point? I doubt the Lindens will do much of anything... Hell they leave the scripts that do this out here on their own forums!

Don't think so? Take a look....
/15/b0/168759/1.html

It's simple. They don't care for whatever reason.

No, please do report it. This happened to a friend of mine a few weeks back... she called LL on the phone and had all her money back within 3 days. Mind you, a Linden visited her in world to refund her money. I was there when he showed up.

They really are taking action these days. Do report and seek their assistance.

Good luck!!!

Wow, the money is not important? 7000 would pay for 4 months of rent at my shop. If you are interested in giving 7000 away, please count me in. I would definitely put it to good use hehe.

Seriously, I think you should send a report. Even if the Lindens do not do anything about it, you would have at least tried to get one more scammer out of SL. Provide all of your info to them and hope for the best. Refer people who need help with scripts to one of the forums. I do hope you get your money back.

I say there is no harm in trying and if this slows down or stops just one unscrupulous person, it's worth it. Sorry it had to happen to you. Good luck!

Absolutely AR the person who got the money - the name should be there in your transaction log..

I haven't missed you.

4 to 1 in favour of reporting the scammer.. ok i make the effort .. and hey the money hurts too when you put it like that Asmita, but i'm still funded from rl and prefer to think of it as 5 drinks down at my local. I'll just have to spend a few nights at the Hangout instead.

Should this be an AR or a support ticket or both?

That would still be a bad, bad idea.

If it's a mainland sandbox they could simply have the prim move away as soon as you rez it and give it debit permissions and hope you'll forget about it when it doesn't take any money right away. A few months later they can drain your account, or drain small amounts continually in the hope that you'd never notice.

The one and only way to be safe is to not give debit permissons in the first place, don't count on the fact that you can delete the prim if it turns out to be a mistake.

File the AR, take the AR number from the email and reference that in a support ticket. Include all info with the support ticket.

Yes, you're quite lucky that you managed to delete it and it didn't just disappear off, never to be found again. (You _did_ manage to delete it, didn't you?)

Now, if _I_ were to write a script for this purpose, it would use...

...actually, perhaps it might not be best to go too far along that path.

It really is beyond time they overhauled the debit permissions system.

You should be able to

Decide on a limit allowed per transaction.

Decide on a limit allowed per individual.

Decide on a limit per hour.

Decide on a limit allowed, period.

See a list of all objects you have granted debit permissions and their locations.

Rescind permissions from the UI not based on what objects are rezzed inworld or attached.

You should be able to set defaults on things, on install however the limits should be very small to prevent thefts.


You are literally giving some object capable of automated functions the "keys" to your in-world bank account -

It should not be a simple "yes/no"

Yes, once you grant debit permissions to an object it has them forever, so if it runs away before you delete it you may be broke forever. Which brings me to Jira:

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1750 "Addition to Tools Menu - Revoke Debit Permissions"

Vote

If you don't know how to vote, just post a question here. Jira can be unfriendly.

I would definitely AR it. If you don't the Lindens will never know this problem is still going on. Who knows, at one point something might click in their brain then they can work this problem out.

well being in a sandbox means that eventually the object will return to your lost and found
(after all if you rezzed it you own it)

as for the rest
no comment

Not if there are other sims around the sandbox. The prim can move from parcel to parcel (with object entry turned off, or with the scammer/an alt sitting on it which would also keep it from getting auto-returned or getting stuck on no-script parcels on its way over) until it's on a parcel the scammer owns where they can keep it indefinitely.

Each debit would tell you the name of the sim the object is in at that time, but if they turn it into a "mini" invisiprim you'd be looking for a needle in a very big haystack and they can still move it around from sim to sim as well.

ah yes those thoughts never crossed my mind

however even if it is a tiny invisible prim, just turn off the ability to select other ppl's objects, then do the select all thing in edit mode (hold mouse and drag a square around where you want to select items)

if your prim is there, it will select it

A couple of months ago I found a webpage in the support system that said if you were the victim of fraud and LL could recover the lindens they would return them to you. I can no longer find that page. However a search for fraud turned up this...

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/security.asp

Knowledge Base
Second Life Info > Solution Finder > Technical Issue > I'm having account problems > I think my account's been compromised; I may have been the victim of fraud.
How do I know if my account was compromised?

If you can’t access your account
If you suddenly notice a reduced available balance on the payment source you have on file.
What should I do?

Contact us immediately!

Here are the steps:

Login to the Support Portal. (If you cannot log into your account, use our Guest Access Log In.)
Click the Submit a Ticket link.
In the Ticket Type Field, select Special Questions – Basic Account or Guest Login from the dropdown list.
Select My account has been shut off and I don’t know why.
Fill in the rest of the fields as directed.
Copy the Tracking Number for your new ticket.
You'll receive an email containing your ticket information.
Call the Fraud number: 800-860-6990
How will Linden Lab resolve my compromised account?

First, Linden Lab will place your account on hold, and investigate the relevant transactions. This may take a few days in some cases. Once we have concluded the investigation, we will send you an email explaining our conclusion and explaining the action that will be taken with respect to your account. As a reminder, all transactions involving L$ are subject to Linden Lab’s Terms of Service.

Agreed or better yet have a limit amount of time its stays active..........Not forever thats just bad period!

As always with Resident Answers a host of interesting stuff comes up. The "runaway mini invisible 'for ever a threat' prim" is just scary. Thank god I was hit by a more basic version. Yes i have deleted it but kept in inventory for present (my account remains nearly empty for now as well).

I turned the scammer down in the sandbox but rezzed and tinkered back at my home. The note card settings implied that I had set low risk limits, very reassuring it was ... chuckles.

Thanks Nika I checked the jira and voted .. maybe Colette it is worth adding your comprehensive list to the comments on that jira, or are those ideas registered else where.

Thanks for the info. about AR and a Support ticket. Will post here again with the outcome.

Looking on the bright side .. at least I get to hear from nice folks on the back of this mess.

Sometimes I am really happy you're one of the good gals, Ms Malaprop!

Always a helpful/useful person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don`t say that about many people on sl.

just make it go up to 700 meters as no one looks there

Don't take Candy from Strangers.

Angel.

Names, names.