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Scamming People For Passwords Then Selling Their Accounts

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  • 12-29-2007, 09:40 PM
    lukem5
    Scamming People For Passwords Then Selling Their Accounts
    Well, my unfortunate freind just got scammed from this guy because he sent him a fake email asking for his password/address/ ect. Please note that this scammer was Claiming to be Blizzard Entertainment Inc. when he was not.

    Anyway, it turns out what this scammer does ( dont ask me how I figured it out, long story) is he sends these emails out, takes peoples accounts, and then re-sells them for $$$. And then when people try to charge him back through paypal (because eventually the person who bought it from the scammer figures out it was a scammed account), he keeps the money because of paypals policy with virtual goods (they just end disputes over virtual goods, in other words, once the payment is sent to the scammer, they cant get the money back because its dealing with intangible/virtual goods).

    So I was wondering, is this a felony or is it against US/international law is any way? I mean, if this was with REAL items, then yeah, its a felony. But these are virtual items, so does this still apply to US law? I mean its still real money right? The scammer WAS asking for his address, first and last name, phone number... in the email and pretending to be blizzard entertainment inc when he is not, is that against the law??

    I would like to hear some opinions from people.
  • 12-29-2007, 09:49 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Scamming People For Passwords Then Selling Their Accounts
    Quote:

    Quoting lukem5
    View Post
    ( dont ask me how I figured it out, long story)

    If I were to make a long story short, I would assume that what you're doing here is asking if this is something you can get away with doing.

    The geeky term given to what you describe is "phishing".

    It is illegal. In the United States, it is illegal at both the state and federal level. The first crime would be in engaging in phishing to get somebody else's passwords. The second crime would be in accessing their accounts. The third crime would be in selling an account that does not belong to you.

    And PayPal will happily give the police or feds everything that it knows about you.
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