Missing Badges Mystery?

[Homer]

how can they prove people are using autos anyhow and how can they do this  especially when she doesnt use autos

Auto use is very easy to prove. They have logs that indicate every move you make. Most of us who use autos understand it is against the TOS and we also realize we'll never collect any prize from pogo.

[Homer]

It should be interesting to see if caroline has any insight into this matter.

[apple]

i didnt know it was that easy to detect hell  also how ?
i dont think its fair about that woman though if she didnt use autos
they will lose a hell of a lot of money now 9/10 ppl on pogo use autos

[persistence]

This has been going on for a few days now.No one is talking about it in any of the rooms I have been in and i do a lot of room hopping(bingo) as well as other games. It has been stated that someone hacked into 1 of pogo's email addy's server and sent these bogus emails out saying something similer to this but none of their badges have been taken as of yet(the ppl that got the bogus emails).Altho there have been ppl that have had ALL their badges taken away...from what I understand it is because they have used a cheat engine.Best thing I can tell ANYONE is that if you use cheats to do it wisely.....do not get all the ranks and badges in 1 day....spread them out.There have been some glitches that ppl have taken advantage of in the past(most recent was Wonderland Memories).Pogo took away some ppls badges and some they didn't.I guess this time they are going full force. All I can tell you is to sit quiet and don't discuss it in any of the rooms.So sorry to all the ppl that have lost their badges.

[WillMoon]

i didnt know it was that easy to detect hell  also how ?
i dont think its fair about that woman though if she didnt use autos
they will lose a hell of a lot of money now 9/10 ppl on pogo use autos

The number of people who use autos is not certain... The financial impact of consequences dire for using them is not clear either.  Pogo maintains a fear campaign of misinformation about them, they even went so far as to insinuate in the community news that auto use would somehow get your account hacked.
Where facts dont work, Pogo is happy to use inuendo and outright fallacious statements to scare people into not using them.
Whether or not this woman used an auto is not clear. Realistically, it would be understandable if someone in that position would consider denying it. She lost everything that she had worked a long time for.
What is clear is that she did not have thetechincal/knowlege capability to use a hack or a mod... So this leaves the conclusion that this happened due to the use of an auto as the only logical explanation.

[WillMoon]

This has been going on for a few days now.No one is talking about it in any of the rooms I have been in and i do a lot of room hopping(bingo) as well as other games. It has been stated that someone hacked into 1 of pogo's email addy's server and sent these bogus emails out saying something similer to this but none of their badges have been taken as of yet(the ppl that got the bogus emails).Altho there have been ppl that have had ALL their badges taken away...from what I understand it is because they have used a cheat engine.

Im sorry, "it has been said that someone hacked one of pogos email servers?" Said by who? "from what you understand, they used a cheat engine"? That doesnt sound very factual...
Please come back and post with a copy of one of the faked emails, from an account that still has its badges despite this faked letter.

Best thing I can tell ANYONE is that if you use cheats to do it wisely.....do not get all the ranks and badges in 1 day....spread them out.There have been some glitches that ppl have taken advantage of in the past(most recent was Wonderland Memories).Pogo took away some ppls badges and some they didn't.I guess this time they are going full force. All I can tell you is to sit quiet and don't discuss it in any of the rooms.So sorry to all the ppl that have lost their badges.

The posted facts (not speculation) would indicate that there is no wise way to use an auto... That the price of using one of them at all if you get caught has gone up. I hope that we hear more on this soon.

[apple]

hell the last thing i want is to get caught hop e all is well scared now  :'(

[Homer]

There's no point in losing sleep over it. We'll see what happens soon enough or maybe not. LOL

[persistence]

Before you start acussing someone that what they are saying is not true,maybe you need to check out some of the other forums on the web.I will not name NAMES just like you did not do about the person you were speaking of.

Here is a copy of the bogus email that some ppl are getting......

Hello,

****Do not reply to this Email - Replies to this Email will not be
seen.
If you have questions about this message or why you received it, please
contact us via the "Ask a Question" tab at support.ea.com***

It has come to our attention that your account has been found to be in
violation of the EA Terms of Service by using prohibited methods to
advance your progress. The Terms of Service to which you agreed when
you
created your account states:

"You will violate the Terms of Service if you (or others using your
Account) do any of the following:

o Use or distribute "auto" software programs, "macro" software
programs or other "cheat utility" software program or applications.

o You may not modify any part of the Service or any Service Web
Site that EA does not specifically authorize you to modify.

o You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into or decipher
any transmissions to or from the servers running the Service.

o You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA
product
to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the
existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public
posting) to any other user of the Service."

As a result of this violation and to highlight the seriousness of the
offense, we have removed all badges from the accounts found to be
violating the Terms of Service in this manner. All incidents of this
nature go through an internal review before any action is taken against
an account; therefore, there is no appeal for this action.

Ordinarily, this would result in immediate account closure. However, we
are, at this time, allowing you to keep your account active. Please be
aware that any further Terms of Service violations *will* result in a
permanent account closure, regardless of their severity. In addition,
because of the nature of this Terms of Service violation, you are no
longer eligible to claim any cash or merchandise prizes available at
Pogo.com. The following information is from the Pogo Prize Eligibility
rules, which you can review at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The use of machines, computers, scripts or any automated system to
play
the Games is strictly prohibited and may result in criminal liability
under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Section 1030 of the United
States Code. Users may only play the Games with one type, version or
copy of browsing software application at any one time. Pogo may
terminate and permanently disqualify any entrants who Pogo, in its sole
discretion, determines as being in violation of these Official Rules.
All decisions by Pogo are final."

"Pogo, America Online, Inc., their parent, subsidiaries, and affiliated
companies, agents, and representatives" are not responsible for errors,
omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operations or
transmission; theft or destruction or unauthorized access or
alterations
of entry materials, computer transmissions, or for technical telephone
equipment, electronic, hardware or software, network, Internet, or
computer malfunctions of any kind; or inaccurate transmission of, or
failure to receive entry information by Pogo on account of technical
problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site or
any
combination thereof."

****Do not reply to this Email - Replies to this Email will not be
seen.
If you have questions about this message or why you received it, please
contact us via the "Ask a Question" tab at support.ea.com***


And as far as the CHEAT ENGINE,that is factual.There are more that just autos that you can cheat with,but I will refrain from saying what they are on this forum because that would not be nice to advertise for others.I'm sure that Homer and the rest of the moderators know what I am talking about.


Also YES there is a wise way to use an auto,I have already stated what it was.
Also you don't know me,why would you jump on me for me stating something that I do know about? I'm not going to get in a pissing match with you about this.I was telling what I knew in hopes that maybe some of the ppl that may have gotten the bogus email wouldn't worry so much.EXCUSE the heck out of me for trying to help.

[WillMoon]

I asked you to please show some evidence, which you did.
Thanks for posting that. :)
A wise way to use an auto is open to the interpretation of the person assessing risk/benefit of doing so.
I leave that to the individual, without predjudice or endorsement.

[persistence]

You are welcome......also I forgot to put the part in there that this bogus email was sent from "pogo/prizewinners" not from the place that you would normally get a pogo email.

[WillMoon]

also I forgot to put the part in there that this bogus email was sent from "pogo/prizewinners" not from the place that you would normally get a pogo email.

That tells us a lot, seriously. It therefore seems logical that someone else had this happen, received this same email legitimately, and resent it to others as a joke.
Does that seem a reasonable thought to anyone else?

[Jewel]

If it is a bogus email, why/how are the badges disappearing??

I am totally confused.  Is this something the regular auto player needs to worry about?

[WillMoon]

If it is a bogus email, why/how are the badges disappearing??

I am totally confused.  Is this something the regular auto player needs to worry about?

The first posted support response was legitimate. It was received by a person who did in fact have all their badges taken away by pogo.
They were not the only one to get the message from pogo, and have their badges taken away.
Here is the confusing part: It seems that one or more who have received this email and lost badges have recirculated it to others...
Hence some that received this message secondhand (as a  joke perhaps) did not have their badges taken, but they were sure nervous, since some of them didnt know it wasnt really sent to them by pogo.

Here are the facts... Pogo has taken away all badges and ranks from some players, for TOS violations.
This is a new step by pogo, and a very drastic one. Many have invested a lot of work in their badges and ranks, to have them taken away.
This is something that EVERY pogo player should be aware of.
It makes no sense to "worry"... Pogo keeps logs that indicate TOS violations, past and present. Anyone who has violated the TOS for as long as pogo maintains our player records can fall victim to this new policy anytime pogo chooses to audit their account.
In that case, the dreaded email will come, along with the removal of all badges, ranks, and any earned game progress.
If Pogo wants to take our badges away, they can...  and they have shown that they will.

[saria]

Ever felt you are on Big Brother?

[harley89]

Sounds like the Pogo has gotten brave and testing the waters. If they take your bades and ranks does that clean the slate when you start over.  Last week I was idly surfing and came across a forum on the program called Snaggit. From what I read it was developed to actively catch cheaters. But it didnt specify where the cheaters were and what they were doning. Ever heard of it Homer

[Tiffany-Pamela]

Omg.....i will be very carfully in the future.......  >:( >:(

[orion42]

i do not think pogo will take away everybodys badges they will loose millions of dollors in income
must have been from something else :o
:o :o

orion42

[pogohatesme]

Someone lost their badge they got because of a glitch in Memorie?!?  How did we miss the glitch lol :D  Sorry to hear about your friend losing their badges......did they email customer service about it?

[mailwench]

i do not think pogo will take away everybodys badges they will loose millions of dollors in income
must have been from something else :o
:o :o

orion42

Well I for one will not be playing in pogo if this happens to me....and I have 3 club pogo member names!  >:( >:( >:( >:(