POL NEWS : Accounts Banned & STF Report(10/22/2008)

[Dayner]

Around 8,580 accounts in violation of the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement were suspended or banned today.

Accounts Banned (Oct. 22)

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 7060 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1520 accounts were temporarily suspended.
Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

Details of the violations are as follows:

- Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement.
Week of September 21, Approx. 130 cases
Week of September 28, Approx. 230 cases
Week of October 5, Approx. 250 cases
Week of October 12, Approx. 370 cases
Week of October 19, Approx. 160 cases

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
October 22, Approx. 40 cases

- Using cheats to automatically repeat a particular action.
Week of September 21, Approx. 40 cases
Week of September 28, Approx. 890 cases
Week of October 5, Approx. 840 cases
Week of October 12, Approx. 1080 cases
Week of October 19, Approx. 570 cases

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
Week of September 21, Approx. 80 cases
Week of October 5, Approx. 10 cases
Week of October 12, Approx. 300 cases
Week of October 19, Approx. 1540 cases

- Instances of areas or monster monopolization.
October 2, Approx. 190 cases
October 9, Approx. 110 cases

- Involved in compromised accounts
Week of September 21, Approx. 270 cases
Week of September 28, Approx. 450 cases
Week of October 5, Approx. 360 cases
Week of October 12, Approx. 460 cases
Week of October 19, Approx. 210 cases

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 1.2 billion gil from circulation.

We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious, such as introducing damaging viruses, and comprising the security of private account details. Usage of third-party tools will not be tolerated within FINAL FANTASY XI, and we will continue to severely penalize any players found to be in violation of the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

As we continue to ensure a fun and balanced environment for FINAL FANTASY XI, we hope that our players enjoy the game as it was intended and take care to avoid involvement in activities that violate the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/pol...ews14605.shtml

Special Task Force Activities and Future Plans

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...756/3756_3.jpg
http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...756/3756_4.jpg


We will start out today's report discussing the issue of illegal fishing.
The number of reports received in September has increased in comparison to August. A total of about 1,500 reports were received, an increase of about 400 since August. Because of the significant jump in the number of reports, we performed an investigation that revealed an increase in violators of the user agreement successfully avoiding the Special Task Force's mass bannings through certain activity patterns. As a result, the Special Task Force created new criteria for bannings and, starting this month, strengthened its activities in dealing with players involved in illegal fishing. With the new changes, players who had avoided mass bannings up until recently can now be easily dealt with, and we believe these results will be clearly visible in future statistics.
We are continuing to change our methods of dealing with violators of the user agreement as they find new ways to avoid bannings.

Next, we move to the issue of unauthorized access.
About 300 more accounts were banned in September than in August. The reason for the increase is due to the proliferation of accounts involved in such access. Previously, all items obtained through unauthorized access were sent to a single account and were turned into gil through auction houses. Currently, however, items obtained through unauthorized access are distributed to multiple accounts so that the maximum possible number of items can be sold simultaneously at auction houses and then turned into gil in a very short period of time. We believe that this method was chosen to reduce the amount of gil and items seized by the Special Task Force. The number of accounts involved in unauthorized access has increased, but so has the number of accounts banned, demonstrating the Special Task Force's ability to adapt to the situation.

Lastly, we move to the issue of hunters, which has considerably calmed down. One particular issue of concern is that the number of accounts obtained through unauthorized access being used for hunter activities has been on the rise. In addition to catching and dealing with such hunters, we can also properly deal with the accounts they have illegally obtained to use in their activities. The number of accounts currently being used for hunter activities is quite low and is continuing to decrease. Because we have confirmed positive results from the mass bannings, we are continuing to proceed with these same actions against hunters.

Matters of Concern Within the Community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- I've received advertisement messages for RMT sites from characters I don't know.
We have received a large number of reports about violators of the user agreement involved in RMT abusing the messages sent in friend registration mails to advertise for RMT sites. If you receive such a message, you can use the PlayOnline Viewer's Ignore List to block all future messages from the sender by opening the message and selecting "Ignore."
If you continue to receive a considerable number of such messages from other players, please make a GM Call or a report to the Special Task Force.

- Now that the 14-Day Free Trial has started, it's easier than ever to obtain an account. I'm worried that this will encourage users involved in RMT.
Anticipating that there may be violators of the user agreement involved in RMT abusing the 14-Day Free Trial, the Special Task Force made preparations in strengthening our activities against violators before the downloads began. We expect that these accounts will be used mostly for illegal fishing. Therefore, starting this month, we will be strengthening our activities in mass bannings and similar undertakings.

Warning Against Unauthorized Access

We are still receiving reports from users whose accounts may have been accessed by unauthorized third-parties.
As mentioned in our last report, there have been reports of malicious third-party link scripts embedded into users' web pages, which link to external sites rigged with programs designed to steal PlayOnline IDs and passwords. There have also been confirmed cases of web pages that haven't been updated for long periods of time suddenly being embedded with such scripts. If you possess a webpage and it becomes too difficult to manage, we ask that you either get someone else to manage it or that you shut it down to prevent the spread of such malicious link scripts.
It is, of course, also necessary for website users to be careful.

Due to these risks, if you happen to view general websites on the computer you use to connect to PlayOnline, we ask that you always use the latest software versions by performing regular Windows Updates and browser version updates, and that you use internet security software. Additionally, it is also important to not use old versions of software or to access suspicious websites.

By introducing preventative measures such as anti-virus software, even if your computer is infected by a virus that steals PlayOnline IDs and passwords, you can drastically reduce the chances of your account being accessed by an unauthorized third-party.
In order to protect your PlayOnline ID, PlayOnline password, and game data, please remember to periodically verify the above preventative measures.

Reporting to the Special Task Force

The Special Task Force relies on everyone's information regarding violations of the user agreement to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

Report to Special Task Force

*Please contact the Square Enix Information Center by telephone or through the "Contact Us" e-mail support under Service & Support in regards to unauthorized access or other concerns regarding your account.
If you become aware of unauthorized access outside of the Information Center's hours of operation and possess multiple PlayOnline IDs, log in from another PlayOnline ID and contact a Game Master (GM). The GM will make the accessed account temporarily unavailable.
However, please note that a GM cannot perform account related actions such as changing one's password, so it will be necessary to contact the Information Center at another time.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...56/detail.html

[Apelila]

If you possess a webpage and it becomes too difficult to manage, we ask that you either get someone else to manage it or that you shut it down to prevent the spread of such malicious link scripts.

or....(@SE) HOW ABOUT YOU FUCKERS PUT SOME SECURITY INTO YOUR GOD DAMN PROGRAMS, YOU LAZY SPERM GUZZLING WHORES.

Jesus christ it still pisses me off to no end that most of the account hijack bullshit would be resolved much easier if they had more security involved in billing / password changes.

[Bregor]

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
Week of September 21, Approx. 80 cases
Week of October 5, Approx. 10 cases
Week of October 12, Approx. 300 cases
Week of October 19, Approx. 1540 cases

That's amazing, but I wonder why this is so high for just one week. Maybe a disgruntled IGE employee leaked some names.

[Chen]

friend got 72hr ban for camping mee deggi for 12hrs straight & claiming every time

submit your GM calls if you ever get outclaimed! i know for a fact my friend doesnt even use windower lol

sucks for him....

funny as hell tho

[Khalil]

friend got 72hr ban for camping mee deggi for 12hrs straight & claiming every time

submit your GM calls if you ever get outclaimed! i know for a fact my friend doesnt even use windower lol

sucks for him....

funny as hell tho

I bet he also plays on PS2.

[The Blackrose]

Wow, are we two days early? I thought STF reports were usually on the 24th?

[Xno Kappa]

ib4tehIonlyusewindower!!!!

[Znooby]

I bet he also plays on PS2.

he doesn't, he is a member of my linkshell and has spent the latest days camping the same NM, 0/40+ the last time he whined about it. it's hilarious that he out of all people got a 72hour ban since he is as innocent as a kitten. lol

[Khalil]

he doesn't, he is a member of my linkshell and has spent the latest days camping the same NM, 0/40+ the last time he whined about it. it's hilarious that he out of all people got a 72hour ban since he is as innocent as a kitten. lol

lol, I was just messing with you.

[Skjie]

or....(@SE) HOW ABOUT YOU FUCKERS PUT SOME SECURITY INTO YOUR GOD DAMN PROGRAMS, YOU LAZY SPERM GUZZLING WHORES.

Jesus christ it still pisses me off to no end that most of the account hijack bullshit would be resolved much easier if they had more security involved in billing / password changes.

No amount of password based security is going to help when you get a keylogger on your PC.

[Shuemue]

he doesn't, he is a member of my linkshell and has spent the latest days camping the same NM, 0/40+ the last time he whined about it. it's hilarious that he out of all people got a 72hour ban since he is as innocent as a kitten. lol

You sit next to him right?

[Apelila]

No amount of password based security is going to help when you get a keylogger on your PC.

True, but removing keyloggers is the easy part. Getting your account back after its been stolen is the hard part.
Once people have access to your account the process you have to go through as it has been described can be summed up by the word "Cluster fuck".

[Yabby]

No amount of password based security is going to help when you get a keylogger on your PC.

Or they can protect your account a little better with making it harder to jump server's, etc. Every time a friend of mine go hacked his account was jumped to another server before it was stripped. Making it so you had to reenter your full CC info would help with this, or at least make it so the RMT had to change your CC info before jumping so you don't get charged the bullshit fee. It would also help track CC of the RMT if they really did change it.

Also if they could make a system so you could personal ban any IP but yours/other IPs you use from even logging into the accont would help with 99% of the hacks. Of course this would be for people like myself where only myself touches my char. By IP i also mean like, Just US IP's can log into my accont, i'm sorry i don't see myself going overseas anytime soon so why would i want someone from overseas logging into my accont?, etc, etc.

[Tordall]

Because of the significant jump in the number of reports, we performed an investigation that revealed an increase in violators of the user agreement successfully avoiding the Special Task Force's mass bannings through certain activity patterns.

This is probably significant. I wonder if they're going after people now for particular activity patterns instead of someone actually getting caught for AFK claiming or AFK fishing.

E.g. seemingly AFK pld near where eastern shadow spawns that doesn't move or kill anything for 7-8 hours, then mysteriously jumps to life when Eastern Shadow spawns, then goes back to being unresponsive for another 3-4 hours before going back to Whitegate and changing to ranger.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for them to ban a bunch of the 'legit' people I know that are heavily involved in RMT.

[Skie]

This is probably significant. I wonder if they're going after people now for particular activity patterns instead of someone actually getting caught for AFK claiming or AFK fishing.

E.g. seemingly AFK pld near where eastern shadow spawns that doesn't move or kill anything for 7-8 hours, then mysteriously jumps to life when Eastern Shadow spawns, then goes back to being unresponsive for another 3-4 hours before going back to Whitegate and changing to ranger.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for them to ban a bunch of the 'legit' people I know that are heavily involved in RMT.

Nothing more anoying that camping KA... person gets to camp... stands there for 2 hours... claims KA... stands there... their group gets drop... then tellys him to holla... where he stands motionless for the next 3 hours

[fren.]

Did they get rid of the AH price manipulators? I haven't seen such a bigger cockblock in this game.

[Znooby]

You sit next to him right?

he usually sit in my lap, and i am inside of him.

[Tordall]

Did they get rid of the AH price manipulators? I haven't seen such a bigger cockblock in this game.

A quick check of FFXIAH (not the computer I play from) shows that at least some of the items that are usually subject to price manipulation are now trading normally.

Nothing more anoying that camping KA... person gets to camp... stands there for 2 hours... claims KA... stands there... their group gets drop... then tellys him to holla... where he stands motionless for the next 3 hours

The other way they could combat this would be to ban the person that got the benefit of the illicit activity. Esp since at least some of the serious botting is done on 2ndary accounts for the benefit of the primary account. Of course that would lead to:
randomHNMLSmember> YES, I finally got Ridill after 3 years of waiting in line.
[GM] Dave> Hello, I understand that you got Ridill today.

[Aksannyi]

Always good to see account bannings, glad to see they are really kicking the RMT where it hurts. A lot of popular RMT farming spots are no longer camped to the max, which is good for the regular player.

[nekura]

That's amazing, but I wonder why this is so high for just one week. Maybe a disgruntled IGE employee leaked some names.

Probably less due to with actual gil buying/selling and more about the advertisements mentioned in the Matters of Concern section.