Hacker, Scammer, Cheater, Liar or Thief?

I am tired of seeing the term "Hacker" being used when someone is scamming or cheating or just plain lying and stealing. 

Language is powerful. It is also important. When you use the wrong term, you are not getting your message across correctly.

Let me clarify:

Hacker

Someone who uses code, software or scripts to break into accounts. Hackers are skilled computer techs. Real world hackers attack computer systems. They send viruses and create malware to steal from others. They engineer cyberattacks and make ransomware. Usually hackers are targeting banks and other companies that have a lot more money than Stardoll, so real hacking at Stardoll never happens. Okay, once there was a server overload caused by hackers, but they did not break in. The payment module is separate from the site and is more heavily protected than the site itself. Your payment information is always secure.

Scammer

Some people use scammer and hacker for the same thing. But I prefer to differentiate between the two. A scammer is a trickster. Scammers use words to gain access to accounts by lying. Scammers do not need to use code or technology to steal. Scammers may also invite others to go away from Stardoll to visit sites that are created to trick other members into giving away their personal log in information. 

Scammers are easy to avoid and easy to spot once you know how they operate. When you spot someone asking for a password, report them. If someone posts a link DO NOT go to the link. Report the user. Only Stardoll can safely investigate. 

Just going to a link outside of Stardoll can be a problem if the website has been set up by a hacker. You are safe from hackers at Stardoll, but when you go to other sites, you can get a virus or malware. You can not only lose your account but any other personal information on the computer you are using.

Cheats and cheating

In the gaming world, cheats are supposed to be secrets that help people in the know advance in the game. New members of Stardoll think there are cheats that will give them free stuff. People circulate silly posts about copying and pasting a certain group of words to get tons of free things. These never work and if you post them you look foolish. You can read more about this in other topics, but this sums it up. Don't look for cheats. There are none that work.

Cheating is done by people who find ways to advance in the game that may not be viewed as fair by other members. I think that designers who sell single items back and forth to their own accounts to inflate their sales numbers and win the top design spots are cheaters. Stardoll does not care that they are cheating, so don't bother reporting. People who cheat the contests are not breaking the rules.

Stealing, Trading and Private Deals

There is something that some call scamming or hacking but is just plain stealing. To illustrate this, I made up a story.

W wants to buy a LE dress from Z  for 1000 SD. They make a private deal to make this happen. (Making a private deal is breaking the rules.) Z puts up a cheap item into her starbazaar for 500 SD and W has to buy it before Z will put the dress up on reserve for her for the last 500 SD. If Z is honest, she will put the dress up as agreed. But if she is not, she may block W and keep her dress and the 500 SD. Many people call this scamming, but it is actually just not following thru with a deal. It is stealing.

Trading is similar. Two people make a deal to trade. To do this they agree to put certain items up for sale. Someone usually goes first. This person puts the item up for sale for just 2SD or SC. The second person buys the item. Then it is up to the second person. The second person is supposed to put up the agreed upon item for sale in her bazaar. Sometimes this works fine. But sometimes that person will not follow thru. At this point the second person blocks the first person and tries to keep both items. 

Trading is risky because it is based on a private deal. When you are dealing with strangers you do not know how they are going to behave and if they are really honest. I see people lie on Stardoll all the time. 

Stardoll made making a private deal against the rules to protect members from getting cheated by other members. This is a form of cheating, but it is stealing.

Why does it matter?

Often people will come to me for help after someone has stolen from them. They will say they have been hacked or scammed, but once I get the full story, I find that most often they have been stolen from, and that the person complaining cooperated with the thief.

No one can steal from you without your cooperation. Keep that in mind.

There is some good news. Stardoll will delete the account of a person who steals from another member. If someone steals from you after making a private deal you can contact Stardoll and tell them what happened. Stardoll will read all the messages and determine what happened. Well, if you made the deal on Stardoll. If you made the deal at fb or another site, they cannot investigate and you will not get justice.

Justice does not include getting your stolen items back, even if Stardoll does determine against the other doll and removes their account. If you made a deal with someone and they stole from you, you broke the rules. You were not hacked. You might say you were scammed since the person tricked you with words. 

I prefer to reserve the word "scammer" for those who set up a big lie, someone who posts a video or creates a website to trick people and then broadcasts to try to get as many people as possible to leave the safety of Stardoll. These scammers are out to steal accounts. They steal what is valuable out of these accounts and then use them to post links and broadcast. These scammers are always working their scams with low-value dolls which get deleted.

I wish Stardoll would do more to eliminate the dolls that end up benefitting from these scams. Probably there are dolls with lots of things that these scammers actually care about. The purpose of stealing is to enrich oneself. Stardoll should find out who these dolls are and remove them. Only that action will eradicate the problem.

Support Science

This Saturday I will be participating in the March for Science in my city. The organizers chose Earth day because scientists have raised concerns about climate change. Opinions are not facts. Science provides facts by studying the natural world and sharing the data.

Having a large turn-out for the march will show support for our scientific community. Scientists have made huge contributions to our modern lives. Science gave us the internet, computers and smartphones. Scientists developed treatments for disease and their work continues to protect our health. Science changes the world.

We all need to speak up in a constructive and peaceful way. Marching lets your representatives know that you support evidence-based policies. This Saturday you have an opportunity to be part of the movement. 

Tips for marchers:

• Make a creative sign with a positive message.

• Wear comfortable shoes.

• Put on sunscreen before you go. 

• Wear sunglasses and a hat. 

• Bring a bottle of water and snacks.

Being part of a march is amazing. Don't miss it.

VICTORIA RULES!

Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until 1901, but her influence is still felt today. I recently watched "Victoria," a TV series based on her early life. The story began when she was only 18 and inherited the throne. I enjoyed the romance, the costumes and the set decor which were beautifully detailed. It was a lovely way to learn more about this extraordinary woman.

Nowadays we forget that the reality of living in Victorian England was harsh. Certain aspects of the era have become celebrated as part of today's popular culture, especially in fashion and decor.

Steampunk has been described as neo-Victorian. Victoriana describes decorative items that were either produced during the Victorian period or in the style of objects from that time. Several items that show this Victorian influence are still available to buy in the Starplaza. My favorites include:

Antique Diamond Earrings -Epiphany- 13 SD
Way Coat -Fallen Angel- 6 SD (this is for men and does not show up in the shop, you need to search the catalog to find it)
Pretty Bird Cage -Pretty n'Love Decor- 5 SD
Steampunk Wizard Cat -Magic Emporium - 16 SD

I would love to see your Victorian inspired suites. Please leave a note in the comments and I will visit.

(I submitted this post for publication at the official Starblog. I have been a Starblogger for over a year. Many of the posts I submit are not published and since I spend a lot of time writing them, I am starting of series of blog posts here.)

Play safe and have fun. For more information on Stardoll and safety, please read my book Stardoll Cheats, available on Kindle at Stardoll Cheats Book at Amazon

You can read a free sample using your browser and the Kindle Cloud Reader.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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

Why external links are forbidden on Stardoll

Stardoll has a rule that members are not to post links.

"When you are at Stardoll you must NOT...
- Ask other Stardolls for personal information (or give out your own) such as (but not limited to) password, email, name on Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram or similar.
- Post external links (such as photos, videos, chat rooms etc)."

I wrote for clarification and Stardoll Staff confirmed that external links means any website that is not Stardoll.com. They allowed that the only exception is that dolls may post information about their own blogs IF they are Stardoll related and contain no personal information.

Stardoll has set up the site so that no one can post a clickable link to another website. So when they say links, they really mean the URL, the address of the destination website. And Stardoll staff has gotten wise that some members try to disguise what they are doing. Some members use a tinyURL to disguise the destination while others will post what seems like incomplete information but is enough for anyone to find where to go. Stardoll considers any of these as breaking the intention of the rule.

I will explain a few kinds of links and why they are not safe. These include:
*Links to personal blogs and websites that may have personal information
**Links to images
***Links to videos
****Personal information like usernames on communication sites
*****Chatrooms

I would also like to warn members that hackers use links to steal your account or gain control of your computer

This is a serious topic. Please take your safety seriously as well as the safety of others. Stardoll considers dolls that ignore and break these rules as practicing dangerous behavior.

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*Links to personal blogs and websites that may have personal information

It is not safe to post links that lead to your photos or personal information. Haven't you noticed that even if you link your account to facebook Stardoll does not let users hop to your facebook page from your Stardoll page?

For their own safety, all users are supposed to remain anonymous on Stardoll. It is easy to forget that anyone can be on this website.

But even if you are anonymous to other users, you are not anonymous to Stardoll. Every time you log in your computer tells them where you are and that information is saved. It does not matter if you own more than one doll. Stardoll will know it is you each time. Stardoll has the right to hold you, the user, accountable for all your actions on this website. Users who create other dolls in order to break the rules may find that the consequences for their actions may include getting warnings at their main account or having their main account deleted.

As I understand it, Stardoll keeps records of your exact IP address every time you log in. An IP address indicates a general location but it can be used to find an exact location by an expert. In the case of a person committing a serious crime, Stardoll would turn the IP address info over to law enforcement on request, who would use that information. It is in the membership terms that Stardoll will release this kind of information to law enforcement if there is criminal activity. Everyone here agreed to these terms, and are legally bound to them whether they read them or not.

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**Do not post links to any images. Stardoll staff is not going to go thru each one and figure out whether it is you or a kitty. The rule is simple. No links to images. If you want to stay on Stardoll, you must obey the rules.

Do not go to image links that other users post in discussions. It might be a kitty, or it might be a picture of something you would rather not see. There are certain people that enjoy making other people angry or shocked. Do not let them spoil your day.

I wanted to mention that all Superstars can post images in their starblog for a small fee. Stardoll checks these images to make sure they conform to the rules. This is a great way to share a photo of your kitty.

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***Do not post links to videos. There is a very popular video site that does not control the content of videos or the comments made there. They even allow scammers to post videos about "cheats" that have allowed thieves to steal from Stardoll members. Again, when you go there following a link, you have no idea what kind of content that person is directing you to. And it is against the rules.

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****Personal information like usernames on communication sites. You don't know who may see this information. Anyone can make a doll on Stardoll. And some people want your personal contact info. They can gain your confidence by posting their own information. This is an easy way to trick girls into revealing more information than is safe. On Stardoll, members cannot post photos of themselves, but on other sites, they can. This is not safe to let people you do not know in real life find out what you look like.

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*****Chatrooms. You must wonder what motivates someone to want you to leave the safety of Stardoll to communicate with you.

There are a few members who show thoughtless disregard for the safety of the younger members just because they want to post whatever they want without having to obey Stardoll's rules.

Do not go offsite to chat or otherwise interact with anyone you meet on Stardoll. Stardoll has lots of tools for you to chat right online, and they are here to help you if there is a problem.

Stardoll's priority is the safety of the younger members. Stardoll interprets mentioning going to another website to establish communication a problem. You may not be breaking the rules literally, but Stardoll has the right to interpret posts in context. That is in the membership terms. Staff uses their judgement to interpret the intention and the risk value in each message, but sometimes they may err on the side of being more vigilant. And many parents would probably agree that is the safer way to err.

Stardoll has a commitment to safety. They will use all means, including deleting clubs to protect their members. Those members who insist on promoting risky behavior will be warned and deleted if they continue.

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Hackers are getting more clever. They will try to steal your personal information by getting you to use a link.

Hackers put malware on your computer to steal your personal information. If you are using a Mac, make sure to install the latest security updates. If you have a PC, make sure you purchase well-known anti-virus and anti-malware software to protect yourself and run it.

Hackers also have a trick where they will have a message pop up saying you have a virus or malware and invite you to download a program to fix it. Never do that! When I see that I immediately unplug my computer! This is a trick to get you to download malware! Do not click anything. It might already be downloading, so turn off your computer right away and unplug your modem or router.

A final word of warning. Scammers are still preying on naive members at Stardoll. They trick members into giving them access to their accounts. Scammers steal accounts, stardollars and rares. And usually these scams start by tricking a doll to leave Stardoll by going to a link. Stardoll will restore a stolen account as long as the original owner supplies proof of ownership. But Stardoll does not return stolen virtual stuff. Watch out for Phishing sites and other scams.

Glam Fever

I enjoyed playing the Stardoll sponsored game/app Glam Fever. It allows players to earn and send exclusive items to their Stardoll suites. The app comes with very little instructions. I put together what I learned on another blog. Consider it the missing manual. http://glamfevertips.blogspot.com/

Stardoll Academy

Stardoll created a new feature called Stardoll Academy. I completed all the challenges and got some cool stuff. I wish I had known more about it when I was doing it. But I managed and only a few of my yearbook pages are cringe-worthy.

AC-Viper put together a great guide with illustrations at her blog.
http://sdspoilers.blogspot.com/p/stardoll-academy.html

Stardoll created a club called AcademyStar that is supposed to be for all the dolls participating in Stardoll Academy. Only they did nothing to publicize it. No matter, the club is already huge and new members are joining every day.

AC-Viper and I have been made managers of the club. Go there to read the discussions. There are several helpful topics with information and advice.

dress up dolls

Stardesign and copyrights

Someone contacted me about a problem she was having concerning Stardesign. She created a cute design featuring a well-known character.

This is common. Even though technically it is a violation of copyright, there are a lot of designs that feature characters that are owned by major corporations. On Stardoll, this has been going on for years, and I don't think anything is going to be done to prevent it.

But these characters do not belong to any of the dolls that make these designs.

The doll who contacted me was distressed because another doll who also made designs featuring this character was harassing her and telling her she had to stop making her designs.

My advice. Report the other doll for bullying. She does not own the character. She is out of line. Trying to use intimidation to get the other designer to stop making competing designs is against the rules. Let Stardoll handle it. They can send a warning and make it official.

Designers, keep in mind that no matter what you design at Stardoll, someone may copy it. And you do not have the right to make a fuss about it. My own designs have "inspired" other designers. And I have created items similar to what other dolls are marketing. We have a free market. So you have to take the good and the bad.

I had a similar problem. I was making a copy of the hotbuys jacket in a variety of colors. I added some buttons to make the jacket more like the original, and I added shading at the shoulder area to imitate the fringe on the original jacket. I also added 3 buttons to each sleeve.

Another doll had done something similar, and she got a little "territorial"when my jackets showed up on the hottest design page. She came to my guestbook and demanded I stop. She told me I had to delete my designs. Then she sent a bunch of her friends to say the same thing. 

This seemed particularly silly since her design was not original to her, it was an imitation of the original hotbuys jacket.

If this happens to you, it might be best to not respond at all. Just hit the report button on the post and let Stardoll know that someone is trying to intimidate you, to make you do something by making threats. Legally, this is called extortion. But it you want to put it simply, call it bullying.

Stardoll sent a warning to the doll and she (and all her friends) stopped bothering me. 

It is not against the rules to design something similar to another dolls designs. But it is against the rules to bully anyone.

This also applies to presentation designs. You can put a little © on your presentation, but that is just a typed character. An arrangement of color, type and text is not copy protected. You could not register it if you tried. As a graphic designer I designed many layouts for advertisements that were printed in newspapers and national magazines. If someone chose to copy my design they were free to do so. Once its out there, it is fair game. You have to let it go.

Fonts are copy protected, and hopefully you paid for the ones you use on your computer, but all rights for fonts belong to the designer of the font.

I hope everyone understands that anything they do on Stardoll can be imitated. Someone can imitate the way you decorate your suite, do your makeup or wear your hair. They can try to make their doll look just like you. There is nothing you can do about it. Try not to let it upset you. Trust that who you are is unique and special. The rest is just pixels.

Note: In the US, many forms of extortion are considered serious crimes. Be careful bullies, if you cross the line, you can get into big trouble. Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion

Violence and weapons

This doll is dressed like a commando. I am not sure if she is a member of the army or a terrorist. This is very disturbing on many levels. Her army uniform was made in Stardesign. She made a cartridge belt to wear across her chest in Stardesign jewelry. She completed her outfit with weapons made by other dolls.

The tools that Stardoll gives us can produce amazing results. But some kids use the tools to express their creativity in ways that I find disturbing. I do not like this trend of glorifying war and violence.

The images below are a selection of dolls who have made disturbing things. All of these dolls have been dealt with by Stardoll staff. All the objects and disturbing images have been removed.