World of Warcraft may be the first thing that comes to mind when talking about MMORPGs, but RuneScape remains the most popular FTP MMORPG in the world. A lot of players have invested a whole lot of time building up their characters, and logging in only to see that your 6,000,000 gold has somehow disappeared is like a knife through the heart.
Even worse, the hackers are only one username/password change away from stealing your account entirely if they manage to hack you. Once that happens, things get really rough, and you’re bound to at least lose something, be it some gold, an entire character, or even the entire account. Whether you’re already panicking over a hacked account or reading this just to be safe, following this advice can turn out vital for your RuneScape experience.
Don’t Let It Happen in the First Place
Yeah, not the advice you’d want to hear, but if you got hacked, chances are that you weren’t paranoid enough. On the other hand, if you’re reading this just to be safe, you’ll be grateful to hear this. Here are the measures you need to take in order to make sure that you are as safe as possible:
- Choose your password carefully – A weak password is all it takes for the cybercriminals to get you. You may think that ‘jasonisrad123654’ is a solid password, but it isn’t. A strong password is at least 12 characters long, is absolutely unrelated to you, and contains a random set of numbers and symbols, as well as a clever mix of lower-case and upper-case letters.
- Don’t type your password – How do you think hackers guess your pass? They know your pet name and sit trying the combinations? Nope, they won’t sit in front of their keyboard, thinking ‘Damn you, Jason, what clever pass did you use?’ No, they will use remote software that will essentially show them what you’re typing, so even if your password is perfect, it is still hackable. Use cool software, such as LastPass, which does everything log-in-related for you.
- Use rock-solid anti-malware protection – The hackers use adware and other malware to access your computer remotely. Don’t be reluctant about purchasing the best protection software out there, and don’t download anything from untrusted sources.
- Change your password once every 3-4 months – You never know. Make sure that you change your password periodically, just to be safe.
If You’re Already Hacked
Now, let’s get down to business. You got hacked, for whatever reason, and now your RuneScape account is in someone else’s hands. Here are a few steps that will help you out:
- Scan your computer with a good antivirus program and check for keyloggers. Malwarebytes is a great app, but there are many out there that can help you with this. It is very important not to change your password until you’ve gotten rid of the keylogger.
- Once you’ve made sure that there are no more signs of keylogging, change your password using the above advice. Only now are you completely safe from the hacker who has squeezed into your account in the first place.
- Only now, once your computer is secured, should you proceed to click here and recover your account.
Hijacked Account
Some hackers will break into your account, only to steal the gold/items that you have. Be careful, however, because even if the hijacking looks like it’s over, chances are that the hacker is still lurking, waiting for you to start playing and earning gold again so they can do everything once again.
Other hackers, however, are aiming at either selling your account off or using it for themselves. The only help here is RuneScape support. If you’re locked out of your account, once again, you will have to launch the recovery process.
An email will be sent to you, asking if you still have access to your email account. If you do still have control, you will receive another link that will help you reset your RuneScape password. If your email itself has been hacked, follow the instructions that will follow from RuneScape support.
In the End, Safety Starts with Prevention
It might not seem like it, but this is the best advice that anyone will give you. Make sure that your RuneScape account is as safe as possible, and it won’t get hacked. If you do happen to get hacked, do not change your password and account info before making sure that there are no active keyloggers on your network.
Has your RuneScape account ever been hacked? What did you do to resolve the issue and what have you learned from it? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
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