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Twice this week, someone has attempted to get my password, or what is called "phishing."

The first message was actually slightly alarming at first; the subject line said "Account Confirmation,if not confirmed you will be banned!", it looked professional, it was from a user whose name sounded official- MC General Report Help- and the message was all fancy pants and cool. It had a nifty layout that looked kind of Moderator-ish. However, when my email was notified, it said the content of the message was a photobucket url. An expired one. That was a tipoff that it wasn't real, but I was still slightly spooked. I wondered "what if it really is true, and I'll be banned in fifteen minutes?"

But as soon as I got to the bottom, I saw something under the message that reassured me that this message was a phisher. It said "Never give your password or other personal information to another member. Gaia staff will never ask for your password for any reason. If any member asks for your password in a private message, even if they claim to be a moderator, please click to notify Gaia staff."

The second message was sort of comical; I actually laughed a little at its pathetic state. The subject line said "TTENTION GAIAN", which tipped me off right away that it was a fake. When I opened it, it wasn't professional OR scary, because it was a quote. Which read "I aM iN uR pAnTs Wrote:" and then had a message about account moderation and whatnot.

Some tips, if you get a message such as this and aren't sure what to do:

First, the subject line: Gaia Mods always use correct spelling and punctuation. The worst I've ever seen from them is an elongated 'Yay" for my friend's birthday. So if it's misspelled, missing letters, not capitalized, in all caps, or not punctuated, it's probably a phisher.

Second, who it's from: my two messages were from "MC General Report Help" and "M O D S 2010 Helper."

Mods are always either simply "admin" (which is also orange) or have an "[NPC]" before their name, and are some other color. If it's not an admin or NPC, and the name is dark blue like everyone else who pm's you, I'm pretty sure it's not a Mod.

Third, the user avatar: Neither of my phishers' avatars were visible. The first phisher had his/her profile and avatar set to private; I clicked, and could not access the profile, plus the avatar was completely blank. Not even a base. That right there should warn you that it's a fake. Mods are always visible. Always. And you can always go to their profiles!

Fourth, and probably the most important: The content. No matter how fancy and professional and real it looks, if the message asks you for your password, it's not real!!! Gaia's Terms of Service and warnings state that a Gaia Mod will NEVER ask for your password. For ANY REASON. Whatsoever. Not to moderate your account, not to fix a glitch, not to scan it for bugs, not to make sure it's real. There is no reason on Gaia that a Mod will ask for your password.

Now, my first phisher looked and sounded very scary and warning and real. He/She mentioned the Gaia ToS, had copyright symbols, colors, pictures, and really fearsome red bold text. I had some serious fears that it was real, but that nice little bot at the bottom of my inbox reminded me that I should never give another Gaian my password and information, no matter if they claimed to be a Mod or not. Even so, I had my fears.

So I reported the message, and waited.

Now here I am, two days after the first phisher, dealing with my second phisher, and I have yet to be banned or stolen from. My account is perfectly safe. Nobody has deleted me. It's all okay.

I've seen a lot of Gaians who have been hacked. So let this be encouragement to you, and remember those four things. Check the username. Not "admin", and doesn't have an "[NPC]" in front of its name? It's fake. Can't see the user? It's fake. Can't access the profile? It's fake. Asking for your password and information? It's DEFINITELY fake.

ALWAYS report it. If it's asking for your password, email, and username and says "please don't report this message" like mine did, REPORT IT. This person is just trying to whack you out and scare you for your password.

Be a safe Gaian. Fight the Phishers!

~Ireth.