Welcome to Gaia! ::

No doubt you've seen at least one thread titled "FREE GOLD". Chances are, you clicked it, already half expecting a scam and saw a link leading to a tinyurl site. Here's how you deal with this kind of thread:

•Before you post a warning, check if someone else has already posted a warning. If you post another warning and bump the thread, you're actually helping the passwerd phisher. If no one has posted and you make the warning, tell others not to bump the thread in your warning.

•Be sure your warning post catches they eye of whoever reads the thread. For an example, at the beginning, put "WARNING!!!" in large, red font.

•Explain what exactly it is that you're warning them of. For an example, someone posts a link to a false gold generator. This "generator" looks like it's part of the Gaia site. If you just post "SCAM!", they might just ignore it. Instead of that, explain that they intend for it to look like part of Gaia.

•Do NOT, under any circumstances, visit a link in one of these threads. Visiting such links puts you at risk of getting a keylogger.

•Some people may have already visited the link and returned to the thread to see if they missed anything. Tell these people to change their passwords IMMEDIATELY (and maybe virus scan their computers).

•If you see one thread like the one I described, there are probably others. Search for topics by the user at the forum home. If this is the case, copy and paste the code for your warning onto something like notepad on windows to keep the code handy.

•If you find yourself dealing with password phishers commonly, it might be a good idea to make a mule to do this on. You could end up the target of a password phisher who wants you to quit ruining his/her scams (or maybe they just want to get even).

So, that's pretty much it. If you feel I've missed something, feel free to post it and I'll add it.