Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Cheater sends threats thru Stardesign

It seems as if the problems at Stardoll with cheaters using software programs is worse than ever.

I may be a member of Callies Crew, but I only get to see what other members of Stardoll see. And what I have observed in the last month is discouraging, disappointing and now frightening.

It seems like Stardoll does little to stop wig cloners/duplicators. I will call them dupers for the rest of this article. These are people who use Charles Proxy and similar software programs to hack Stardoll. Read my previous posts for details about these cheaters.

Dissolvedgirl has been a leader in identifying and reporting dupers. She has spent a lot of time and energy helping others. She has been relentless and vehement. And Stardoll has rewarded her by sending her a warning!

This is completely unfair. A "kill the messenger" mentality is not beneficial. Someone at Stardoll has a very poor idea of how to show appreciation to the people who are trying to help them identify and remove the cheaters and thieves.

Sometime last night (December 8, 2014) someone sent 100 wigs to the beauty parlor of Dissolvedgirl. They are all identical. Each wig has "DIE!" in bold letters over the top of the hair. Each wig cost Zero stardollars and each has a tag that says the designer is a doll named fk.you.die1.

I am not sure if Dissolvedgirl can even open her beauty parlor. I have a powerful computer and a very fast broadband connection and I had trouble getting the following screenshot.

It is very disturbing to see that someone can do this to another doll. Stardoll says our site is secure, but this looks like pretty high level hacking. And a level of anger and viciousness that would make anyone feel frightened.

I reported one of the wigs, but since it is in Dissolvedgirl 's beauty parlor, and there is a character limit on reports, I fear that someone at support will misunderstand what is going on. But from what I understand, Dissolvedgirl contacted support about this as well.

I hope they act on this soon. After they have dealt with it, maybe they can clean out all that trash so that Dissolvedgirl can use her beauty parlor.

I thought about suggesting Dissolvedgirl sell these "DIE!" wigs to all of her supporters, me included, and we wear them as a sign of solidarity, but again, we would risk the chance that someone at support would not have much of a sense of humor about that.

I have noted that having a sense of humor is sadly lacking at Stardoll. As well as a sense of fairness. What a pity.














Update: December 10, 2014. This morning the Stardoll site was down for several minutes. I got the "we are updating the site" message and I hoped they are finally doing something to stop the hackers.

After the site came back up I re-visited the beauty parlor of Dissolvedgirl, to follow up and see if the DIE! wigs were still there. I did not see them. Instead, there are new wigs, perhaps 100, I lost count. Each one is two styles stacked on top of each other, using twice as many hairs than allowed. These wigs are unwearable/unsellable. The hacker tagged each wig with the designer name ihopeyoudie2. The message is a threat: "I hope you die too." I wonder if this is the same hacker or another one. The thieves may be ganging up on Dissolvedgirl. In any case, this is unacceptable. I reported one of the wigs using the tools.

I wait to see what happens next. As for Dissolvedgirl, I admire her courage. She is not being cowed by these bullies.


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

More cloners stealing from top designers

Stardoll told members of Callies Crew that Stardoll has stopped hackers from using Charles Proxy to clone designs. This does not seem to be true, because I am still finding many cheaters peddling the creative product of designers.

Today I found two cloners who not only sell other designers products, but seem to be taking orders from people who want nice things and do not care who they support when they make a purchase. Buying from cloners is not against the rules, but is seems that there is something morally wrong about doing it knowingly.

I find that Stardoll is a moral quagmire. People cheat there all the time. Read my book "Stardoll Cheats" for a more in-depth discussion about cheating.

Back to the cloners. Dupers. People who use the debugging application Charles Proxy or other software to make exact duplicates of other dolls designs. It seems to me this is still a problem.

You can help by learning to spot cloners and reporting them. Or if you are in doubt, leave me a note in my guestbook at Stardoll and I will personally investigate and make a report if necessary.

Let me show you what I found today. There is a very popular wig design created aeynar23, who is on the top design list. The design comes in two parts, a face-framing section, and a messy bun. I bought this design from the original designer because I saw it on other dolls.

Today I recognized that same design in the bazaar of another doll, with her name on the tags, as if it were her design. This is evidence of being a duper.

Other evidence is taking orders of designs and using the original designers name. In this case, the designs of the designer _Tombstone_ are being cloned and marketed.

Look at the screenshots. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If you saw these dolls, would you suspect them of being dupers?

I hope Stardoll investigates my report about these dolls and deals with them in a timely manner. And that their programmers do more to stop hackers from cheating on Stardoll.

Update November 12, 2014: These dolls have been removed.












Saturday, November 8, 2014

Another Duplicator/Cheater stealing from Stardoll and Original designers

sandyaadulce http://www.stardoll.com/en/user/?id=246077265
seems to be another duper. Another Stardoll cheat. She seems to duplicating wigs using the application Charles Proxy and then selling these wigs to other accounts so they can be marketed to make money.

The entire business seems to be a huge conspiracy that involves many dolls. There are dolls that seem to have been created soley to provide names for the tags. 

For example, in sandyaadulce suite right now, Saturday November 8, 6pm pacific, she is wearing a nice designer wig. This is a wig I recognize because I own it. I bought it from the original designer. 

I went into the beauty parlor and saw that this wig was a cloned duplicate of the designer's wig. How do I know? Look at the tag. It has another designer's name on it. But more than that, look at the price. 0 stardollars! There is no way anyone can buy a wig for 0 stardollars. Well, yes there is, if you are a cheater using a debugging software program to duplicate items and cheat on Stardoll. This wig is a clone!

This makes me angry for many reasons, and when you know about it, it may make you angry too. Original designers spend hours making lovely wigs to sell. They have to use many pieces to do this, and they must pay for the result. Then they add a bit for profit for themselves when they sell the wigs to other members. 

It looks like duplicators may not pay for the wigs at all! Not only are they stealing designs, but they are making a much bigger profit than the original designer. This is not right on many levels. 

I took screenshots of the other wigs in the starbazaar of sandyaadulce and all of them had a few things in common. They were designs that were clones of other designers' wigs. They all had an original price of 0 stardollars. It is very suspicious that each name tag has a designer name that is for a doll that has 4 or less starpoints, created within the last week and not superstar. It may be that the cloner hopes that if Stardoll figures out that these wigs are clones, they may delete these "throw-away" dolls instead of investigating further.

The real way to find out who is doing this is to follow the money. Find out who is getting the profits for selling these wigs may take a bit of digging, but it is about time someone at Stardoll spent some time finding the real culprits behind the duplicating conspiracies. Only when Stardoll deals with the dolls who are making the big profits will this problem go away. As long as the hackers are able to make money and stardollars, they are going to continue to find creative ways to cheat all of the rule-abiding members of Stardoll.

Please see the following screenshots to see what I saw:
Stolen design reserved for gabilonguinha, note original price is 0 Stardollars 
Stolen design reserved for B34TR1ZD4NT4S, note original price is 0 Stardollars 
Stolen design reserved for anac1994, note original price is 0 Stardollars 
Stolen design reserved for sasa4gk, note original price is 0 Stardollars 
Stolen design reserved for sasa4gk, note original price is 0 Stardollars 

sandyaadulce wearing stolen design. Note original price 0 stardollars 
my doll, madmadeleine wearing original designers design, note price was 60 stardollars. Note original designer's name, CandyAlize on the tag.

CandyAlize, the original designer, is still selling this particular design at her suite.

One of the dolls whose name appears on the stolen wig designs

One of the dolls whose name appears on the stolen wig designs

One of the dolls whose name appears on the stolen wig designs

One of the dolls whose name appears on the stolen wig designs



Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Explanation of MSW finalists glitch

Stardoll support has supplied a reasonable explanation concerning the display of MSW contenders shown at the Underneath Stardoll blog.

"The dolls listed in the link you obtained had the most votes when that part of our admin system was last updated. That is no guarantee for a spot in the finals, and it does not mean that the competition is rigged in any way."

This is what happened:

I was contacted by a concerned doll about what she thought was a problem. There was a link at the UnderneathStardoll.net blog that seemed to reveal the winners of MSW before voting ended. It showed a interactive display, some sort of javascript that linked to a module of the Stardoll site. This link was created to show the finalists during the 2012 campaign, but somehow it was displaying content for the 2014 MSW competition.

I posted in this blog about it.

Then I got a note from Stardoll. They were concerned that my post was misleading. I took down the post while we communicated about this problem. My contact at Stardoll said "we don't want anyone to get their hopes up or to think that the competition is unfair."

We are all acquainted with glitches. It is clear that Stardoll did not intend anyone to see this interactive display. Yesterday the admin at Underneath Stardoll removed that post, including the javascript module.

I am satisfied with the explanation. I hope you agree. It's nice to know that someone at Stardoll is enjoying my blog.

This is what the interactive display at USD looked like.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Profile of a cheater: Sasasee

Some dolls are openly cheating. I guess they do this because there are no consequences for cheating. It seems as if cheating is not against the rules. I am sick of this, so let me explain what cheaters are doing by showing one specific example.

SASASEE is a cheater, one of the first to duplicate wigs. Here is a screenshot taken last year showing her bazaar full of designs she stole from others. Note that these designs only cost her 2 stardollars. Not only does she have a way to duplicate the designs of others, but it appears that she spent a lot less for these designs than the original designer, so she makes a bigger profit. This enables her to undercut the original designer's prices.



She was also one of the dolls who showed up with eye colors not offered in the beauty parlor. Her behavior has been suspicious for over a year. I took this screenshot of her in her beauty parlor in November 2013. And I sent an email to support asking them to investigate.



She has also put interiors up for sale in her bazaar. Again, most members cannot do this. Only cheaters. Same with lipsticks and nail polish. Her doll was deleted, but now she is back.




One day, she had nothing to sell in her bazaar. Well, it looked like nothing. It cost her nothing, but she was selling it for 600 Stardollars.

I was wondering if this was a hack to move stardollars from one of her other accounts. And I wonder if this trick enabled her not to pay Stardoll a percentage.






Today, September 5, 2014 she ran 12 pages of consecutive broadcasts. I have been broadcasting, and I have to set each one up individually. It seems like cheaters have another way. It makes me wonder if part of the cheat is that she does not pay for the broadcasts.



Her broadcast message said she was selling a wig for just 1 Stardollar, but it was a trick. Anyone who tried to buy the wig got an error message. I'm pretty sure this was a ploy to get dolls on her page. I bet many of them voted for her.

I find that this infuriating.

There is not much I can do about it. I have written to Stardoll about her and sent screenshots, beginning in November 2013. I sent another message today with screenshots and my analysis of what is going on. I asked them to reconsider their policy of letting cheaters do anything they want on Stardoll.

Do not go to her page to say bad things directly to her. That might be construed as bullying.

If you want to vote for Miss Stardoll World, only vote for members you know. Otherwise, you may be voting for a cheater.

I am just reporting what I see.

(Update: at this time, Sasasee is no longer on Stardoll.)




Thursday, September 4, 2014

Miss Stardoll World Problems

The frenzy begins.

Stick with me, I am going to start with math.

The girl who won covergirl on September 2, 2014, was a top broadcaster with 1452 broadcasts. Broadcasts cost 5 stardollars each. In the United States, I get the best deal buying 3000 Stardollars for 50 american dollars. With 3000 Stardollars I can buy 600 broadcasts. It would cost me 100 dollars American to buy 1200 broadcasts, and if I had done that, I probably still would not have won. 

(Update: Stardoll just raised the price of broadcasts to 8 Stardollars!)

The girl who won covergirl does not live in the USA. She lives somewhere else. I asked other dolls how much they pay for Stardollars, and some pay a lot less than I do. Some pay the equivalent of half as much as I do. And some pay more. This girl lives in a country where members pay a lot less for Stardollars.

Stardoll does not care about fairness. People who happen to live in certain countries, have a big advantage in the game because they can buy a lot more Stardollars for their money.

And now it is time for MSW. Dolls in countries where Stardollars are cheaper will have an advantage. Alas.

Some dolls try to win without broadcasting. The ones that annoy me the most are the ones who come to my guestbook when I am broadcasting and advertise. I do not feel I should reward this behavior. Using my guestbook as a billboard is not classy.

I will vote for anyone who leaves me a personal note, ones who seem to actually read my presentation and get an idea of what I am trying to say.

I support your dream to be MSW, but with millions of dolls competing, it is going to be rough. The odds are not in your favor.

I called my book Stardoll Cheats for several reasons. One, because new members need to know about cheats and why they do not work at Stardoll.

And then there are the members of Stardoll who spend their time cheating. They are Stardoll Cheats. The people who sell sell hundreds of items to their other accounts, back and forth, to win and stay in the top designer spots.

And there is a new group of Stardoll Cheats. The ones who use developer software to duplicate designs (especially wig designs) that were created by other designers. They are cheats as well. 

Stardoll cheats the honest members when they allow cheaters to continue to play and win on Stardoll. 

My book contains details about all the rules, safety information, stories and much more.

It would be nice if a cheater did not win MSW.

Many cheaters are rich. They make lots of stardollars selling designs all day all the time to members who have no idea that the designs are stolen, or the designer is in a top spot not because of superior creativity or from customer sales, but from cheating.

These dolls can afford to broadcast. Sometimes you will find a lot of cheaters in the top broadcaster list. 


I am only going to vote for dolls I know. Vote for me if you wish, but I would rather you buy and read my book.



Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Friend Request Scammers

I get several Friend Requests daily that contain a link to a scam website.

Do not visit the site, it is a scam and may contain malware.

I dropped by one such scam site, so you don't have to. You can see by the screenshots that the scammer tries to make her lies look like truth. 

Still these are some really big lies. No one should believe they can get 100,000 free Stardollars. When it sounds to good to be true, it is not true.

In case you do not know, Stardoll is a business, and everyone who is a Superstar or Royalty had to pay for it. And they have to pay for their Stardollars too.

Do not let scams like this one trick you. There is no such thing as a Stardollar Generator. It is a lie designed by con artists to steal from children.

It makes me sad and angry that some members are signing up at this site. If no one signed up, it would disappear, and the person behind it would go do something else. She spends hours every day sending Friend Requests. This tells me that this scam is making a profit.

When this started, I got Friend Requests with the scam link from new dolls. But now I am getting Friend Requests with the scam link from dolls who have starpoints, albums and stuff in their yearbooks. I am sure these are stolen dolls. No one who puts effort in their doll would do this, but the scammer will use a stolen doll that has no other value.

Play smart. Do not try a scam with a "back up" doll. The scammer will use the doll to try to scam others. Stardoll may then come to you, since you owned the doll, and you may get in trouble with your main doll if they think you are conspiring to scam others.

---

You can turn a negative into a positive. This is what I do. I report the doll and make sure not to block her. Then I add the new doll as a friend. I get 4 starcoins and starpoints. In the next screen I get a choice to put her into a certain group, but I just click "stop being friends." Each request is a little gift to me, on a good day I earn several starcoins with very little effort. 

--
Learn more about different types of scammers and con artists so you will never be tricked. Read "Stardoll Cheats: Tips for playing safe on the internet" now available as a Kindle book at Amazon.








Thursday, August 21, 2014

5 star reviews at Amazon for my book!


Two reviewers have given my book "Stardoll Cheats: Tips for playing safe on the internet" 5 stars!


Download the Kindle book at Amazon for just $2.99.

You will learn:
  • What are cheats.
  • Who is cheating.
  • Safety on Stardoll and other sites.
  • The One-Stop Rules and what they mean.
  • Where to find free stuff safely.
  • How to recognize and deal with scammers and hackers.
  • When Parents should monitor their children's online activities.

I provide answers that go well beyond the Stardoll Help section. 


This book can be considered an insightful manual for interaction on the internet for everyone. Get your copy and read it today. You can read the first section for free at the Amazon site.






'Bella_La_Swan' and the copycat





Someone has been copying entire rooms of Bella_La_Swan's suite. It seems a shame that someone would spend so much time to do this instead of creating something original. However, copying is not against the rules at Stardoll.

(Update: Stardoll changed the rules. Since the rules may change again, visit this link to see the current version: http://www.stardoll.com/en/help/article.php?sectionId=18&articleId=13#_=_ . One of the new rules says it is strictly forbidden to copy the design of another stardoll. It does not seem likely that this rule will be applied to this particular copycat, but it is good news for designers whose Stardesign items have been cloned by cheaters.)

Note that any of your work product may be used by Stardoll with no compensation.

This person chose to copy my friend, and both my friend and I are dismayed. Many will not understand that the copier is not original and this copycat will get credit for another's creativity. 

However, there is much evidence online that Bella_La_Swan is the real deal. Watch her video and visit her suite. Some of you may want to leave her a supportive note in her guestbook. People who are this creative are sensitive. We should do all we can to support them.




The good and bad of being a featured member





The good, I was selected as a featured member and they posted a video of my suite.

The bad, the person who took the video changed my outfit. I was wearing the beautiful Young Hollywood Lupita gown and she put me in the Bjork swan dress for the video.

It seems a bit disrespectful to make my doll look poorly dressed.

So yeah, nice, but not nice.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

My book is available on Amazon now!

My book, "Stardoll Cheats: Tips for playing safe on the internet" is now available as a Kindle book at Amazon for just $2.99.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M0DUBUO