Scamming and Hacking

There's obviously a lot of dirty, heartless people in Jamaa that only play for rares. Even if they hack you for your items, nobody likes someone controlling their account, right? And no one loves to be scammed all the time! So, in order to be safe, this page is to teach you all about what you need to know about the basics: scamming and hacking.

Types of Recent Scamming Methods to Watch Out For:

Birthday Baloney
This common scam is when somebody says, "It's my birthday, send me gifts!" There's a possibility it's not their birthday! But, if it is, just send them a nice birthday JAG instead of your best item.

The Devastating Accept
Even though people SAY they decline every trade, they probably do unless you trade them a rare item. That's when they accept, and run away. NEVER take any risks!

Best Trading Trick
When someone says, "Best trade wins ___!", they are lying. The idea of this scam is that you trade something high in value for something low in value, thinking that you'll get a better chance of winning the prize. At some point they accept your trade and run away.

Mailtime Madness
You're out in Jamaa and you see a Jammer yelling, "I am famous, so send me stuff for mailtime!" Everyone wants to meet a famous Jammer, don't they? Well, half the time they don't even have a YouTube account! Don't fall for it!

Trade List Trap
The scheme here is that someone in Jamaa says they want a certain, cheap item for their whole trade list (which consists of some pretty good rares). You look around for someone with the item they want, and you finally find whom you're looking for. Then you trade for the item, they run away, along with the person with the rares. That's because they're the same dude. Don't believe everything you see.

History of Scamming and Hacking:

I'm sure we've all had enough.

But "we" doesn't refer to all of Jamaa, does it? No.

"We" refers to the people who are sick of drama.

Of course, there's various types of drama around Jamaa.

There's the love drama and friend drama, for example.

Then there's item drama, the biggest type of drama and the fastest at spreading. 

You can't go a day without seeing this type of drama. I've seen it. You've seen it. We all know what it's like.

Terrible stuff, indeed. There's the good side to this drama, but there's a bad side. A huge bad side.

And we all know what that bad side is.

The bad side is called "scamming and hacking". Whoever gave birth to this side must have some very horrifying history and genes. o.o

Anyway, I'm pretty sure we've all felt the feeling someone gets when they get scammed or hacked. A mix of sadness and anger can make an ugly mood, can't it? 

But why did this have to happen? When did scamming start? Why are people so-gulp-rarethirsty?

Let's travel back in time.

Let's travel back into the time when AJ first started.

Ahh. Those days.

Heh, most of us don't even know what it was like.

Luckily, we have information on what the view of Beta players was like from past ones, such as pizzadrop, supermonkeys, snowyclaw, and Meloetta385. 

The first weeks of Beta period were spent playing games, telling stories, and making buddies. Just how it should be today. 

Unfortunately, there was no type-chat, Journey Book, oceans, JAGs, or any of the colors on our animals we use today. There was a lot of unavailable features. And, there was no Membership. 

There also was no trade system.

That was invented in later Beta. Early Betas were taken out of stores for whatever reason. People went crazy for these items. Too crazy.

Too crazy enough that people became thirsty for rares. These people had no heart. They just played Animal Jam to get rares and become famous. They didn't care if their best friend burst into tears and had a broken heart. The first scamming methods were made. 

At that time, nobody really knew what these people were up to, so they were scammed. Over the course of the days and weeks, more and more people thought scamming would give them rares like Wheaten Terriers give licks. They were right-and because so many players are scamming, the whole world of Animal Jam is at stake. 

You might think some scammed Jammers are innocent, and they should be. But some are rarethirsty, and that causes them to be scammed. It's win-win. When you care for rares and fame so much more than friendship and fun, you're more likely to be scammed than anyone else in Jamaa. Because YOU want the item they are "giving away".

Then hacking came in. 

I'm glad that I didn't know what the first hacker did for all this time. That was until I found out everything.

Scamming was bad, alright-but hacking was worse.

The first hacker could have been the most vicious and heart-breaking player Jamaa has ever had. He must have hacked thousands of Jammers. Thankfully, this dude is no longer playing. You can't even search his username. 

But he did something much worse than hack players. He did something so wrongdoing that Animal Jam-and possibly even Smart Bomb Interactive-could fall into smithereens. I mean it. AJ could have been closed-forever. 

Here's the big part. Grab some popcorn. You might be so shocked if you haven't heard of this before.

THE FIRST HACKER HACKED ANIMAL JAM.

Point said.

I'm not kidding. 

lolkingcentury1 did this horrible thing. He's done it. And he was banned for it. His account was erased. The first hacker did something not even Taxe or dens could be able to do.

Think of the time when everyone knew he had hacked AJ. I would have been so freaked out I'd have almost quit. Back in those days, I remember hearing about him, but I never really understood him. But now I'm older and wiser, and I do understand. 

Now compare that time to today's time. Sure, today's time is bad enough-but I personally think that the time of Century was scarier. 

Groups of people who wanted to be as rarethirsty as him followed in his steps. They started little by hacking people. So far, I don't think anyone has gotten farther. I'm sure SBI has more protective locks by now. 

Let's stop right there, alright?

It's time for an imagining moment. 

Imagine that all of the rares and Betas were wiped out of the entire game. Zip. Gone. 

Now imagine you are a rare-item collector and work hard for your rares because you find it fun. You don't scam or hack. You spend time with your buddies. You are a normal Jammer who has a hobby for trading. That's no bad thing. 

But how would you feel if all of the items you worked for were gone? Would you quit?

Think of the other people who a rare-collectors. Do you think they'd quit?

More than 75% of Jammers work for rares. It's a very popular hobby throughout Animal Jam. I believe lots of people would quit if rares vanished. 

If these people quit, they'd stop paying for Memberships and stuff from AJ Outfitters. Why? Because they'd want nothing to do with AJ.

If Memberships weren't paid for, AJHQ wouldn't earn any money to pay their workers. AJHQ is not run by robots. AJ is an online kid game run by humans. Humans need money to feed their families and pay for shelter. 

This is why Animal Jam has to leave you with a sad heart. They don't want anyone to be sad, of course. But it all fits in. Everyone and everything has their place in Jamaa. Even scamming. 

I hope you all take this post into consideration. And I want you to remember that rares aren't something to be mad about. They are something to cherish. They bring Animal Jam together. If you believe that rares cause scamming and hacking, they don't. Pixels can't do anything to anyone. Only the scammers and hackers do it, not rares.

:)


Quotes from Jammers:

Do not be sad if you lose your items. They're pixels. They mean nothing. -tig47498
There will always be a dark side out there, but along with that a light side to fight against it. -pink200330
Even if hacking seems to be indestructible, we can achieve anything as long as we work together. -EtherealComet
Want to scam? Think of those who have been scammed. Want to hack? Think of those who have been hacked. How would you feel? -wolfhead73601
It's not your loss when you're scammed. It's the scammer's loss, because they have a deeper hole in their heart than the value of the pixels lost. -Anonymous
Don't believe things that sound too good to be true. -feming
The accounts of thousands are at stake. Don't be afraid to jump in and stand up to scammers, even if it's a huge group. -Grapevine588
Even if it seems impossible, you CAN do anything. -Anonymous
Rarity is truly in the eye of the beholder. Their trade worth is completely up to you. -AJHQ