Regarding hack reports/discussion

[CJ54]

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that we have a full investigation going into the currently reported sketchy activity, as well as related reports. When we have more info, I will let you know. In the meantime, I have to ask that people stop making a ton of duplicate threads to discuss the issue. I understand that many of you are frustrated by what you perceive to be our lack of activity on this, but we hear you and we know how important this is.

Feel free to continue to send in reports of any suspicious activity that you are currently noticing. I'd appreciate it if people would send those to us via ticket rather than posting it on the forums, since it gets looked into faster that way.

[kykboxr]

Thanks CJ54

[TZora]

thank you CJ .. it is good to know that you guys are on top of it ..

[Nicky the Nose]

Thanks CJ. Posting info like this here from Gree goes along way to showing us you care about the issues instead of us thinking you buried your heads in the sand. Again thanks for taking your time to try to keep us informed, I (we) appreciate your involvement.

[Dr BoneCrusher]

CJ, it is obvious that you care about this game, So do we. With that, can Gree please share more info with us and not wait till an all out riot on the forum. This has been going on for a month. Make a "hacker report hot line email serves" even if it's BS, just so we see something beening done. Furthermore, Gree should consider some form of reparations for the players efected by the laps of security in the programming.

[CJ54]

CJ, it is obvious that you care about this game, So do we. With that, can Gree please share more info with us and not wait till an all out riot on the forum. This has been going on for a month. Make a "hacker report hot line email serves" even if it's BS, just so we see something beening done. Furthermore, Gree should consider some form of reparations for the players efected by the laps of security in the programming.

We've already got something like that. If you put the word "cheater" or "hacker" into the body of the ticket, it shows up in a special view on our side. A very large portion of our support staff's overall time is spent investigating those (as has been mentioned before on here, the VAST majority of cheat reports we get are someone who isn't cheating). I'm going to come back in and answer the other items in your post later; I apologize for the short answer for the moment, but I'm down in the trenches with the team responding to tickets today for the most part (and have been the last week, thus the smaller number of forum posts).

[Dudebot121256]

Thanks, CJ. It's good to know that Gree's looking into it.

[Illuminati]

Hey CJ,

I recently reported a suspected cheater through the in-game support function providing the name and level of the player. A few days later, I got a response from support indicating that they couldn't locate such a player. Oddly enough, I saw the same guy in my rival's list later that day.

Considering the number of reports you guys must get regarding suspected cheaters, and the number of players going around with the same/similar name (i.e. Alex) wouldn't it make it a LOT easier to identify and report suspected cheaters by having everyone's invite codes visible in the public profile? It would also make it a lot easier to invite people to join your mafia, as opposed to leaving your own code on someone's wall hoping they'll take the time to copy and paste an invite to you.

[dudeman]

Just fix the hacker problem ASAP. My game is ruined/unenjoyable in it's current state.

No fix = I'll probably end up quitting. The game in it's current state isn't fun, and all the time and in game resources I spend produce zero progress and zero gains. No point, no fun, no play. Pretty simple.

[Nicky the Nose]

Hey CJ,

I recently reported a suspected cheater through the in-game support function providing the name and level of the player. A few days later, I got a response from support indicating that they couldn't locate such a player. Oddly enough, I saw the same guy in my rival's list later that day.

Considering the number of reports you guys must get regarding suspected cheaters, and the number of players going around with the same/similar name (i.e. Alex) wouldn't it make it a LOT easier to identify and report suspected cheaters by having everyone's invite codes visible in the public profile? It would also make it a lot easier to invite people to join your mafia, as opposed to leaving your own code on someone's wall hoping they'll take the time to copy and paste an invite to you.

This makes real sense to me. I have seen 3 hackers/cheaters last week reported them but had no info other then name and level to use. Sure makes sense to be able to include a code to speed things up

[TonySpaghetti]

CJ: Why aren't you guys doing any proactive removal of cheaters? People who have multiple 6x scratcher items or people who have 30 something Koralene Crossfire's should be easy to locate.

[CJ54]

Hey CJ,

I recently reported a suspected cheater through the in-game support function providing the name and level of the player. A few days later, I got a response from support indicating that they couldn't locate such a player. Oddly enough, I saw the same guy in my rival's list later that day.

Considering the number of reports you guys must get regarding suspected cheaters, and the number of players going around with the same/similar name (i.e. Alex) wouldn't it make it a LOT easier to identify and report suspected cheaters by having everyone's invite codes visible in the public profile? It would also make it a lot easier to invite people to join your mafia, as opposed to leaving your own code on someone's wall hoping they'll take the time to copy and paste an invite to you.

We had a good reason for not doing that when we started, but I can't remember what it was (long time ago, haven't fielded that question in forever).

For now, what you can do is leave a comment along the lines of "hey nice base" or something and then tell us in the ticket what you said. We can track where comments originate and end up.

[Steve0]

We had a good reason for not doing that when we started, but I can't remember what it was (long time ago, haven't fielded that question in forever).

For now, what you can do is leave a comment along the lines of "hey nice base" or something and then tell us in the ticket what you said. We can track where comments originate and end up.Thanks this will help alot.

[Ramshutu]

I know you may not respond to this straight away, and I know this is technically discussing disciplinary actions (but in an abstract way) but please take it in the manner in which it is intended.

- Some of us have lost significant money, or items, with knock on effects on how we play the game. As you can see from the response here, the issue we have is not necessarily that nothing is being done, it's that we are taking a hit, and even though it does not cost real money, we get no mechanism of reimbursement. I know it's a rubbish analogy, but if there was a bank robbery at my bank; I would not expect my bank balance to be affected.

- While I completly agree that a public parade of those suspected of cheating, like revolutionary France is a stupid idea, and should be banned, it would go a long way to improve trust and make some of us more accepting, if the results of an investigation about a given player is sent back to the reportee. For example 'we have investigated this player, and we have determined he is legimate.' or 'this player was indeed cheating and he has been dealt with.'

This is the expectations game, and makes us feel better that something is at least being done and we know either way, such a response is not breaking any anonymity, or advocating publishing innocent player details for all to see (and in fact helps a lot).

- eventually, it maybe useful to have a 'report' button an an opponents profile. If you can find the space for it.

[mxz]

- While I completly agree that a public parade of those suspected of cheating, like revolutionary France is a stupid idea, and should be banned, it would go a long way to improve trust and make some of us more accepting, if the results of an investigation about a given player is sent back to the reportee. For example 'we have investigated this player, and we have determined he is legimate.' or 'this player was indeed cheating and he has been dealt with.' So after thinking about this more, I disagree with this. It's not necessary. I think they could change the wording from "We will look into this player" to "We have looked into this player", which indicates something has been done rather than something may get done.

- eventually, it maybe useful to have a 'report' button an an opponents profile. If you can find the space for it.That's would just create more unnecessary tickets. Can you imagine if the news feed had three buttons: [Revenge] [Attack] [Report cheater]? I know you're suggesting smarter placement, but it's still a similar effect. Now, if they implemented an automatic check whenever you clicked that on someone (some serverside script to check inventory, recent game data hashes, etc..) then it could be implemented successfully.

[Peppers]

(as has been mentioned before on here, the VAST majority of cheat reports we get are someone who isn't cheating).

So, the guy I reported with 38 Blazing Monsters, 18 Fighter Exosuits, 18 Axe Smahers & 18 Executioner Platforms is legit? Must be since he's still playing. Good to know...

Edit: Sorry if this seems snarky, but my only attack losses in months were to this dude and a heavy gold spender. The gold spending I can deal with... the cheater, not so much, especially when he hit me again, weeks after I reported him.

[Soopajake]

CJ thanks for making a post. This weekends events were quite frusterating. Letting us know to leave a comment on a hacker's wall is a good move. What if they delete it? You can still trace it right? Some times innocent people get reported as hackers, yet most of the time there are SUPER obvious hackers like this weekend's clown. Is there anyway your dev's create security that scans daily for folks with 100 Koralene Crossfires and 100 Power Exosuits? Furthermore, regarding this recent wave of inconvenience, you must have many reports regarding this one automated hacker guy. That should help yes?
I don't want to see this Weekend or Friday a repeat of what happend. Thanks CJ. Tell CCM we said hello, and that we hope he is well.

[Dudebot121256]

Letting us know to leave a comment on a hacker's wall is a good move. What if they delete it? You can still trace it right?I don't know how Gree works but my guess is they can. They most likely have records of comments and they can probaby undelete comments using a rollback system.



Is there anyway your dev's create security that scans daily for folks with 100 Koralene Crossfires and 100 Power Exosuits?
If they were able to do that, that'd be awesome. Any hacker who adds a Koralene Crossfire to their inventory is dumb, plain and simple.

[Kentha]

Thanks alot for letting us know how things are CJ54
But you guys have to come up with a better way of detecting cheaters, and like said here before, a better way for the players to report them when they are noticed....

I presume all the deaths I had from the cheaters will be withdrawn from the losses at my records...? ;-)

Not to speak of all the land mines I've lost ^.,,,.^

[Illuminati]

We had a good reason for not doing that when we started, but I can't remember what it was (long time ago, haven't fielded that question in forever).

For now, what you can do is leave a comment along the lines of "hey nice base" or something and then tell us in the ticket what you said. We can track where comments originate and end up.

Thanks for the tip regarding leaving a comment. As for not including invite codes in someone's public profile, I'm curious to know what the original reasoning was (if you're allowed to share), and whether the reason is still applicable today. If it's for privacy reasons, that seems to be no longer relevant considering how many people include their invite codes in their forum signatures and how many post their invite codes publicly, whether it be on someone's in-game wall or on the forums seeking to add more mafia members or to participate in the "add-me tuesday" thread.

[cooch]

Well let's see. I reported a cheater 6 days ago, no response from Gree, and the guy went from 136 to 200. Before he disappeared from my msg board he was creating 6 bldgs, doubled defense, etc and his board filled with cheater comments. Reporting to Gree under Cheater like I did is not being acknowledge. This guy is a no brainer as well so there is a creditability gap. Many folks report the same issue and the obvious cheaters are still around.

[Dudebot121256]

I reported a cheater 6 days ago, no response from Gree.Depending on the day and how swamped they are, tickets can very well take that long or longer. Patience is the key :)



Reporting to Gree under Cheater like I did is not being acknowledge.
In the future, try following some of the tips CJ outlined, that might cut down on support time.

Post #1 (http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?43511-Where-is-Support&p=539190#post539190)

Post #2 (http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?43516-Regarding-hack-reports-discussion&p=539319#post539319)

Post #3 (http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?43516-Regarding-hack-reports-discussion&p=539279#post539279)

[Jian Carlo]

Just fix the hacker problem ASAP. My game is ruined/unenjoyable in it's current state.

No fix = I'll probably end up quitting. The game in it's current state isn't fun, and all the time and in game resources I spend produce zero progress and zero gains. No point, no fun, no play. Pretty simple.

Agree totally Dudeman

[NFI]

i sent in a ticket a few hours ago regarding agentsmith at level 151 with pics attached, below is the response i got after a few hours.

"Thank you for contacting Gree Support. I'm looking into this player now. While we do not share the results of our investigations or detail any actions taken, we do appreciate you bringing this to our attention"

[Denerio9]

I have been accused of a hacker ' due to my daily playing
I play all day ' i hardly sleep due to my addiction of gree games
I probably play more than others' even if i do sleep' few hours later
I get up play for like 4 minutes & sleep some more ' when i wake up
I play before breakfast' i play after breakfast ' i play for few hours
Then its lunch' @ lunch When i play during lunch i only collect $$ from
$$ buildings ' After lunch i continue my quests ' battle or raid here & there
Play till dinner ' while dinner time my game still on ' collecting $$
After dinner i continue quests ' play for few hours ' go to one of my
Other games to collect $$ ' go back to my recent game ' play till i get tired
& repeat ' I am no hack ' i am just a fully addicted person that plays
All day ... Quit thinking i am a hack ' i have no skills of such thing
( is it possible to play my games? I know i have a hack bothering me

[Denerio9]

Now i cant play ' why

[Denerio9]

From constant attacks from hacks
Gree or funzio does lil or no help '
There is hackers out there
And u ppl think i am too' how dare u noobs
Yup i said noobs ' so hackers good job
In making me report you here @ a more than
Usual rate' i miss my game & i really wish i
Can play' ( glad i didnt pay 200 $$ of what
I almost did )

[Denerio9]

I am sorry for my last post ' thank you gree , or whoever
U are... Thank you for resolving the problem ' i was just frusterated
... Happy New Year ... I appreciate your help ' yes now
I can put gems or gold on my games ... But spent em
On food ' one of these days i will spend real $$ for
Your help ' you may have taken a while but still i thank
You for resovling the problem i been encountering

[dragon001]

Yes the hackers make cc unenjoyable... Could not the programmers save a lot of staff time by having a list of red flags on accounts? My favorite is the ones with hundreds of level 6 scratchers. The ironic one where the cheater had 11 golden defense guns, where it is only possible to have one of those... It was given out to those of us who had not cheated and had the highest incomes in cc. Only a thousand of us are suppose to have them. Could they not easily pop out those who have stolen theses items?

[RijilV]

I keep on seeing folks with multiple single item top prizes - like the telsa cannon or whatever it is. Seems like it would be pretty simple to do a "delete from accounts where tesla_cannon > 1;"...

[shelby69]

I figured half of it but how to paste it to someones wall:cool:

[Dipstik]

I figured half of it but how to paste it to someones wall:cool:

Buy an iPhone.

[Denerio9]

Gree if you see this message : all my games
Dont work ' i cant play !!

[Denerio9]

Gree if you see this message : all my games
Dont work ' i cant play !!
I was playing one of my games & it just had error after
Error & i closed a game & now i cant play

[TRAZ]

Why are players still getting hit if this is being addressed CJ?

[CJ54]

Why are players still getting hit if this is being addressed CJ?

We're figuring that out now. The reason I am reluctant to talk about this at the moment is mainly due to not wanting to give anyone any ideas about how to potentially circumvent anything we're doing/ have already done. Lots of people read the forums but don't post. Again, we're taking the concerns brought up in this thread and the tickets seriously.

[Dipstik]

You should fix it so henchmen defend you against hackers.

[<3 Hz]

You should fix it so henchmen defend you against hackers.

Some clever person in another thread came up with an idea for a new weapon that gives agent smith -500 mafia attack when he attacks you lol

[Denerio9]

We're figuring that out now. The reason I am reluctant to talk about this at the moment is mainly due to not wanting to give anyone any ideas about how to potentially circumvent anything we're doing/ have already done. Lots of people read the forums but don't post. Again, we're taking the concerns brought up in this thread and the tickets seriously.


I have to say this : i found out i cant play
After attacking some certain trainer
I was playing all day & i came across this trainer
& said to myself ' i bet my game will crash after
Just one attack ' soon enough it did '
I cant play my game again !!
All trainers should keep a log of who they
Attack '

[Denerio9]

I know its rude to say who the name was
But i didnt write his / her name on my log
Cause i battled so much ' i only know his/ her name
When i play

[Denerio9]

Again!! Sigh ' i am so annoyed of these trainers
That know how to make me crash '
What if i change my name will that help

[Denerio9]

I Dont understand why on gree or funzio games
When ever i level up my games shut down & are
Unable to play for about an hour
Also does the same when i am so sclose to beating the
Boss events

[Dr BoneCrusher]

Seen about five agent smith type accounts. Looks like a long weekend

[CJ54]

Seen about five agent smith type accounts. Looks like a long weekend

If you could PM me the names/details of said accounts, I would be much obliged.

[Dr BoneCrusher]

Give some time get right back to ya

[Dr BoneCrusher]

Level 190 WHOIZZY

[CJ54]

Thanks Dr.

The update on this issue is this: we're currently in the process of making sure that this stops happening. I can't post any more than that right now for reasons I mentioned in an earlier post in the thread.

We'll be watching for incoming reports to Support this weekend, so everyone please send any new reports regarding sketchy activity in that direction.

[Denerio9]

Help... I can only play modern war
My games that cant play are monster quest
& kingdom age ' i retired crimecity
Everytime i post here my games start working
A cpl min later' i need your help again ... Thanks

[Ramshutu]

Could we have some clarifications whether any of the players involved will have any items/cash/stats returned.

I say this, as this is not a run-of-the-mill hacker who has got their 10 hits and moved on, but one who has persistently targeted individuals over a relatively long period of time.

[isshi]

Over a period of time I've been hit over 1,000 times that's a lot when I have only lost 1,800 fights also lost more than $30m and no compensation.. What can one say.. I've given up complaining.. It's simple now I've stopped spending until something is sorted out.

[Denerio9]

I still cant play these games MQ ' KA
Been trying to play since yesterday

[Ratma2001]

CJ i sent you PM about this subject and you haven't replied . I will now ask again on the public forum about this subject I am on the Kingdom Age forum where we were told to see this post on whats happening..to other CC forum members dont mean to intrude but need some action NOW, CJ I know youre busy so i will make it simple.
How on earth can these players continue to do this to these games ?
i have sent tickets in and still nothing done? its been 4 weeks now , these players are still playing , cheating, looting others .
E.G level 115 player has an income of 6 gold P/H , gee wiz a player on level 1 has more ! now they have 66K/65K A/D , how on earth can someone do this with out cheating, so i checked there units and 54,586 Cleric..seriously..this is a joke and you want me to put my own hard earned cash into this game ??
If no response i will post on Kingdom Age Forum
Thankyou