Hacking Webkinz: What’s Up With That?
My family just had dinner with some close friends of ours, celebrating our pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday ritual at our favorite neighborhood Japanese restaurant. Two 40-something couples hanging out, getting a little head on, with four beautiful kids joking around, playing 20 Questions and Mad Libs. A pair of 10 and 7 year olds, one boys and the other girls, reveling in their shared history and interests. All was good. Except one thing. The little girl discovered today that her entire Webkinz room had been cleaned out. Totally cyber hacked. This little girl had spent months painstakingly playing games, earning points and furnishing and decorating her room, and identifying with all she had put in to her little project. It was all her own. And she was proud of it.
Needless to say, when she came home and logged on and found out that she had been robbed, she was pretty hysterical. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve had stuff taken a few times in my day and I’ve felt pretty angry and violated myself. And I was far older than 7 when both thefts occurred. So this little girl feels violated, unempowered and helpless. Her mom, who is quite computer-savvy, logs right on to Webkins to find out how to deal with the situation. The first thing she reads when clicking on Customer Support and Has Something Gone Missing is this:
The
only way an item can go missing is if someone knows your username and password
(or Secret Code) and has accessed your account. If someone has removed or sold
an item, it cannot be reinstated. Please change your password by clicking on the
“Login” button on the menu to your left (or go to the Webkinz World homepage and
click “Login”). Click “Change my Password.” You’ll be able to create a new
password. Please remember to make it something easy for you to remember but
difficult for others to guess.
Now that’s a pretty confident statement: “The
only way an item can go missing is if someone knows your username and password
(or Secret Code) and has accessed your account.” I don’t think Google, Microsoft or Yahoo! make such declarations. Based upon my experience with the Internet and on Wall Street, if one were to interpret such a statement as a Service Level Agreement it would mean 100% assurance, no deviation. This clearly is nonsensical, as no service provider on the planet can guarantee such performance. But somehow Webkins feels they can. And even with such an astounding level of confidence, it is really hard to get hold of them. No easy way to drop Customer Support an email. No seamless way to share concerns and issues. This is not the way it should work. If you claim a 100% service level one of two things needs to be happening, either:
- Perfection, no variation; or
- Ready, willing and able service representatives to address issues in real-time.
Since neither of these appear to be present in this situation, I’m frankly confused. How does a little girl get satisfaction from having been robbed? It doesn’t appear that Webkins has either anticipated such a circumstance or gives a sh*t. I’d be really interested to know their stance on these issues. Because I’m not happy. And neither is my 7 year old friend.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Max
EMAIL: maxthewise@klassmaster.com
URL:
DATE: 11/21/2007 11:40:37 PM
A brief scan of the search results for “webkinz hack” (5,000+ results) indicates that hacks and cheats are a popular pastime in the webkinz world.
Webkinz is clueless if they don’t know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dwayne Cyr
EMAIL: noaccess0@gmail.com
URL:
DATE: 11/30/2007 11:57:11 AM
The bottom line is that she doesn’t. My daughter’s account was hacked as well (in fact, twice). Contacting Webkins is useless. Asking for logs doesn’t help either. Here’s the automated response from webkinz support:
Hello,
Thank you for your question. You were worried that someone has been on your account.
If you believe someone has been on your Webkinz World account, you need to change your password right away.
To do this, please go to www.webkinz.com and click ‘Login’. You will see the option to ‘Change my Password’; Click this button and you’ll begin the process of creating a new password.
Please choose a password that is easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. When you have created your new password, remember to keep it to yourself; never share your password or secret code with anyone!
For added security you can go through your Kinzchat phone and remove users who you do not know personally.
To remove a person who you do not know from your friends list, just click on the KinzChat cell phone in your dock. The phone will open. Click on the ‘Power’ button to turn it on. When you see the list of your friends, just click on a name and click ‘Delete’. That friend will be removed from your list, and you will be removed from theirs.
Your accounts security is your responsibility and lost or missing items cannot be reinstated. Further details can be found in the ‘User Agreement’ on the main Webkinz webpage.
Please note that Webkinz follows COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), the type of information we collect and/or release is very limited. As such, we are unable to release the requested account information.
For more information about COPPA, please visit http://coppa.org/comply.htm
Thank you,
Webkinz Customer Support
Lame and poor service.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Gene
EMAIL: gene@abc.us
URL:
DATE: 12/06/2007 11:17:39 AM
My kids’ accounts also got hacked. I got nowhere with their customer service (which is pathetic). Their claims about how your password gets stolen are crap. My daughter had a more complex password than most adults have and she did not give it to anyone. I decided to take a quick look behind the scenes. For starters, all the info from the Flash application back to their website travels in clear-text, which means anyone can sniff or read the logs on intermediate hosts and get all the usernames/passwords you want. Changing your password won’t help, since anyone can sniff it again in minutes. How about splurging $300 for an SSL certificate to protect our kids’ info? Their servers don’t even have DNS entries - are they running it out of someone’s garage?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cari
EMAIL: Purple@Pink.org
URL: http://www.informationarbitrage.com/2007/11/hacking-webkinz.html#comment-90868580
DATE: 12/26/2007 03:53:19 PM
I’m so sorry that happened, I feel so bad! I wish I could give her some of my kinzcash to remake her room. Did you know that Webkinz puts cheats on their website but then deletes anyones account who is cheating! I don’t understand why they even make the cheats. I hope whoever stole her stuff got deleted!!!
Cari(14)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lexie
EMAIL: lexblog2005@sbcglobal.net
URL: http://www.lexicallight.com
DATE: 01/04/2008 04:25:10 AM
After my kids having the same problem as your friend’s, I’ve started a blog* to compile Webkinz issues. Why? Maybe it can cause Ganz to take note. At the least, it will give people a place to be heard.
*helpwebkinz.blogspot.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nicole
EMAIL: guidov2814@sbcglobal.net
URL:
DATE: 01/27/2008 03:13:54 PM
Someone robbed my webkinz house too! I was so mad. They gave me lots of extra rooms too. I don’t need the extra rooms. I am still trying to get my stuff back. But it is very very hard! I am not very good at games so it is even harder!
Good Luck!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Allie
EMAIL: alaynalr@yahoo.com
URL:
DATE: 02/06/2008 03:52:27 PM
My Webkinz account was stolen from.It was a rare
item from the Curio shop and was 1540 kinscash!!!!!!
It was a station 1 science lab and I had a new room
ready. I had already owned a station 2 science lab
and was excited to buy the piece that went with it . The
next morning, I noticed it was gone. I was sad and angry. The worst part about was that it was a rare item
and I couldn’t just buy it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: carl
EMAIL: CACAPOO@yahoo.com
URL:
DATE: 02/10/2008 12:46:45 PM
i got hacked too.paulareally101 hacked me,and even admitted it.Now I want to hack her and get my stuff back!She stole my POTM stuff!How rude!!!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Emmie
EMAIL: missroyalty02@aim.com
URL:
DATE: 02/11/2008 09:16:59 PM
som1 hacked me to took 5 superbeds all my pet items all extra with adoption furniture i have 40 webkinz and i had 80 kinzcash and was left with 20kinzcash
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: vegasmom
EMAIL: themrsdudes@earthlink.net
URL:
DATE: 02/16/2008 01:58:00 PM
Same thing happened to my daughter, everything she ever bought,won, or got with a pet is gone. There is no way anyone knew her password. What is the point of her spending all this time to collect things if it can all dissapear so easily.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jenna and Kayla
EMAIL: kayladavis97@hotmial.com
URL: http://hotmail.com
DATE: 02/29/2008 12:34:45 PM
Kayla: You have to pay for webkinz and thats just like throwing money in the trash! I think somebody should do something about the hacker!!
Jenna: I have a Webkinz and I don’t like the feeling of one day I go on my acount and nothing is there!!!!!
Another thing I can tell you is that you need to watch out!!!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vic
EMAIL: vickers_l@hotmail.com
URL:
DATE: 04/08/2008 01:25:40 AM
This just happened to my 8 yr-old son as well and i am furious….
He comes home from school all excited because it is one of his webkinz birthday’s and he can’t wait to see what his gift was only to find he has been robbed of everything he had. He has 7 webkinz and close to 15 rooms…only 4 of his wekinz has a bed left, his classroom was left intact and everything else (including his roughly 6000 webkinz dollars and many items that u cannot buy in the shop as they were gifted to him on signup or he needed a code for them) all gone.
It is such a sad thing. He loves these toys and wants them all and after this experience I dont think i can bring myself to buy anymore. There is no excuse for such horrible customer service. Myself and others have spent over a hundred dollars and for what.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kate
EMAIL: goodtowalk@juno.com
URL:
DATE: 04/23/2008 07:54:31 PM
i no!! same thing happend to me and i am not happy ! i cant believe someone would do this they are stupid for it and they are just plain out theives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is not a great feeling when you log onto yous page and EVERYTHING is missing!!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chese99
EMAIL: danman@nc.rr.com
URL:
DATE: 05/17/2008 02:55:14 PM
Yeah, I herd about people going around and hacking peoples accounts even on other games! This dude (or dudet) went on my account and some of my friend’s Mechquest accounts and sold items. He even sold one of my rare items!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Riley
EMAIL: janelcat@hotmail.com
URL:
DATE: 07/04/2008 06:50:46 PM
I know it so stupid. they probably have no life’s.
if you have anything extra please send them to, missriley2
Cause my account got hacked, I have almost no items!
Err! i hate hackers!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: ?
EMAIL: badman5@sbcglobal.net
URL:
DATE: 08/23/2008 03:52:30 PM
my sister got hacked so i found the kid you hacked her and hacked him
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Katie
EMAIL: vfvneinbit@ikfgnrej.com
URL:
DATE: 01/19/2009 09:41:32 PM
I think some of the hackers are just desperate to find something to do on te internet. My daughter, age 12, also has a webkinz account. Someone had changed her password. (She is very protective of her password.) We don’t know how, but I acually found a website that teaches people how to hack into someones account. Grosses me out. I think these such websites should be BANNED! Luckly, my daughter keeps all of here webkinz secret codes and was able to change her password back. But we never know when a hacker will strike again……
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Joseph
EMAIL: gregreghiu@uhreg.com
URL:
DATE: 01/19/2009 09:47:41 PM
I hate lamos who steals little kids acounts. It is just horrible. Same thing here Katie. My son’s ACCOUNT got hacked with its password. But he lost his codes so we couldn’t change it back.
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2 years ago
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