TSR Sharing your infomation!

[Anouk]

There was an interresting news item on tv just now (in Holland).
About how in the USA, identity theft has become a more lucrative business than drugs trafficking and dealing.
How easy it is to, just from someone's name, find their gender, their spouses name, their home adress, telephone number.
How easy it is to buy online. How easy it is to use their credit card number to purchase child porn. And how hard it will be to convince others it wasn't actually you, and when you do prove it, it's already much too late.

I really do wonder how sure Thomas and Steve are of the 100+ staff and FA to share full names. And if they are not sure, if they even give a crap.

[mustluvcatz]

I was thinking that carlydunham sounds like a person who really knows how TSR is behind "closed doors".



Interesting, verrrrrrrrry interesting.

[deelink]

Well that's it Nouk, it's incredibly dangerous. And the idea that it was on a "private forum" is just a CHARADE. Nothing on the internet is private, and a hacker bent on getting private information is not going to just stop at public sectors of the internet. Seriously the FA's are deluded morons who justify criminal acts constantly, all led by a man who seriously does not give a shit, he is a manipulator and possibly one of the worst human beings I have ever witnessed on the internet.
And these fucktards worship the ground he walks on, because he prods them gently and fluffs up their insecure egos. That's all he does and he gets away with it, reaping the monetary benefits. And people who want to slide the CC for everyone to share, are being exposed in such a dirty manner? And they call Pirates criminals? Oh do they think it's a War and personal consequences be dammed?

Too bad pirates have too much class to stoop that low.

edited: It was pre-coffee. And it barely made sense heh

[Devilfish]

I've heard people react to those info sharing shots with "Yeah, that's nasty, but what are people going to do? Bomb their house or something?" He was actually completely suprsed when I told him about identity theft and the likes. The fact that some people apparently don't know how incredibly dangerous that is scares me.

Another gem of a reaction? "Yeah, well, if coconut hadn't posted all that nobody would've seen that info, right?" Shows what she knows, but appaling nonetheless.

[Paleoanth]

...all led by a man who seriously does not give a shit, he is a manipulator and possibly one of the worst human beings I have ever witnessed on the internet.

^This. 

Seriously, he called what I posted defamatory (even though it was Atwa's own words) while he and steve defended sharing private information as no big deal.  It was only 5  people who got what they deserved, right?  They were stealing, according to him, which uses the weirdest definition of the word stealing I have ever seen.  You cannot steal what you paid for.  Since no one hacked their database and then downloaded a bunch of crap, I have no idea how it was stealing.  Plus, they actually tried to blame the information getting out on us/coconut, if I remember correctly. 

They cannot even state honestly how many people's information was on that thread as it was 11 and not 5, he uses words incorrectly to get an emotional reaction from people, he bans or blocks people who did nothing wrong, he lies and manipulates to get what he wants so he can build a second house, he uses the FA's for the same, so why the hell would he care about people's safety, private information, or identity?

[Devilfish]

I bet if he somehow found out some of these people got their identity stolen and are now broke, unemployed and in big trouble for alledgedly buying child porn, he'd pat himself on the back and congratulate himself for sticking it to those nasty pirates. And make a topic to celebrate too.

At least I firmly believe that these people always get what's coming to them, if not in this life, then in the next.

[neriana]

There was an interresting news item on tv just now (in Holland).
About how in the USA, identity theft has become a more lucrative business than drugs trafficking and dealing.

This sounds like one of those "don't take a bath because you might DROWN!!111" local news stories. Do you have a link?

Banks in the U.S. take identity theft very seriously. It's still a big problem, but basically if you watch your credit card bills and report anything suspicious, you're not going to have your life ruined. Normally the worst that happens is a $50 charge, and even that's getting pretty rare. My father's credit card was stolen recently; he reported it the next day (though he should have done so immediately), and someone had already rung up over $2000 worth of charges on it. The charges were canceled and he was sent a new card. It took one phone call that lasted 10 minutes, most of it on hold.

If you publish something, presto, your name's online in JSTOR, Google Scholar, and myriad library sites throughout the world. If you want to be really "safe", don't use credit cards. Or get married. Or have kids, especially if you're a woman. Or go outside. And never, EVER get in a car.

I think Thomas and Steve are probably happy everyone knows they release customer information. That'll make people a lot more scared to go against TSR, after all. Since they're con artists, the morality of it doesn't enter into the equation. Like all con artists, they figure their "customers" are all a bunch of saps who deserve what's coming to them anyway.

[Zazazu]

Theft protection with a max liability of $50 is the rule rather than the exception in the US. My parents had a card stolen and $13k charged at Home Depot. They were only liable for $50.

Identity theft is a bit different and more insidious. However, it's usually preventable by making as many of your bills paperless as possible, being careful of who you give personal info to, not carrying your social security card around, and periodically checking your credit report. Oh, and apparently we need to add "don't pay for subscriptions to TSR" to the list.

[SoggyFox]

Yeah - somehow someone got my credit card info and was charging 50$s a pop to I-tunes - both my bank and Apple were very good about it - Apple probably because they didn't get an earful of what I think of i-tunes and their bloody drm....but still, they were good, it didn't get charged to me, and I got a new card.

But, identity theft is even worse than money theft.....someone stealing -who- you are.....*shudder*

[Sherry]

There was an interresting news item on tv just now (in Holland).
About how in the USA, identity theft has become a more lucrative business than drugs trafficking and dealing.

This sounds like one of those "don't take a bath because you might DROWN!!111" local news stories. Do you have a link?

Banks in the U.S. take identity theft very seriously. It's still a big problem, but basically if you watch your credit card bills and report anything suspicious, you're not going to have your life ruined. Normally the worst that happens is a $50 charge, and even that's getting pretty rare. My father's credit card was stolen recently; he reported it the next day (though he should have done so immediately), and someone had already rung up over $2000 worth of charges on it. The charges were canceled and he was sent a new card. It took one phone call that lasted 10 minutes, most of it on hold.

My mother has someone ring up $2000 worth of purchases years ago and they never charged her a cent.  It's both happened to Ryan and I in the past two years, and both times our cards were suspended because of a "suspicious"purchase, both times it was someone trying to get about $20 worth of gas states away.  It's amazing how quick they are to flag these things.  They sent us new cards about 3-4 days later. 

I do believe there are sites out there that can steal your credit information.  It is why you should stay ontop of your credit report.  The US government lets you check it once a year for free at annualcreditreport.com and without penalty (every time you pull that information normally your score goes down a few points). 

[neriana]

Theft protection with a max liability of $50 is the rule rather than the exception in the US. My parents had a card stolen and $13k charged at Home Depot. They were only liable for $50.

Home Depot? The criminals were redecorating their bathroom, or adding a deck to their house? I should probably not be amused by this.

When I worked retail, people used to get mad at me because I asked for photo ID when they used a credit card. So dumb.

[Evanesce]

Theft protection with a max liability of $50 is the rule rather than the exception in the US. My parents had a card stolen and $13k charged at Home Depot. They were only liable for $50.

Home Depot? The criminals were redecorating their bathroom, or adding a deck to their house? I should probably not be amused by this.

When I worked retail, people used to get mad at me because I asked for photo ID when they used a credit card. So dumb.

I get paranoid when they DON'T ID me when I use mine.  What if it was somebody else with my card buying all that stuff?

The first thing I thought when I saw all those names was identity theft alert.  Imagine, buy some simmy clothes, an suddenly six John Smith's pop up and you are blamed for everything they do.  Just for sharing some Sims files. (And most likely, not doing ANYTHING, seeing as TSR doesn't care either way)

[Fainiel]

Theft protection with a max liability of $50 is the rule rather than the exception in the US. My parents had a card stolen and $13k charged at Home Depot. They were only liable for $50.

Home Depot? The criminals were redecorating their bathroom, or adding a deck to their house? I should probably not be amused by this.

When I worked retail, people used to get mad at me because I asked for photo ID when they used a credit card. So dumb.

I get paranoid when they DON'T ID me when I use mine.  What if it was somebody else with my card buying all that stuff?

The first thing I thought when I saw all those names was identity theft alert.  Imagine, buy some simmy clothes, an suddenly six John Smith's pop up and you are blamed for everything they do.  Just for sharing some Sims files. (And most likely, not doing ANYTHING, seeing as TSR doesn't care either way)

Here in Britain they don't ID you when you use a credit card, they used to go on your signature but now they have 'chip and pin' machines that you pop the card in and type your pin number into to authorise the purchase.

On another subject did we ever find out whether TSR was definitely giving people viruses or not because my AVG is kicking up a fuss whenever I download something and moving the files to the virus vault. It gives the reason as "Suspicion: unknown virus. TSR"* which is a bit too coincidental for my liking even though the files are not from TSR  I'm running a full virus scan now so I'll let you know how it goes. Paranoia. I haz it.

*I'm hoping someone is going to tell me that TSR is also a computer term and I'm being paranoid.

[Anyerfillag]

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005965F/viralinfo/tsr.htm

It does appear that TSR is infact a virus term

[jilly]

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005965F/viralinfo/tsr.htm

It does appear that TSR is infact a virus term

EPIC WIN