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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I received a message from someone on my friends list and sent it on as I have many other messages before. But the following day I received a message from EA online support stating my account has been flagged because I violated the terms of service. The violation being “prohibited solicitation or advertising while on the EA online”. This is very upsetting to me because I did not do anything different than anyone who sent it to ME!
The message I sent to my friends stated at the bottom to forward it to 10 people to brighten their day. I have recieved tons of messages like that before! (Also, I have received messages with some risque jokes, but that all seems to be alright!) The EA support team is saying the message titled “Two Boxes” is a chain letter. I am very concerned, did EVERYONE who sent it to me get their account flagged as well? Please let me know WHAT I did wrong and if I deserve to have my account flagged!
Sincerely,
Confused and Concerned
| Dear Confused and Concerned, It’s upsetting to find out that something we’ve been doing regularly is actually considered rude, and worse– against the rules. But alas, I’m afraid that what you’ve been doing is exactly that. Forwarding messages is generally considered rude, and most definitely against the rules. Why were you flagged? Because someone who received one of your forwarded messages did not appreciate it and reported you for “spam.” This report was then processed by Pogo’s Disciplinary Action Team, and it was determined that you were in violation of our Terms of Service by forwarding on those messages. Did everyone get their account flagged? Only those who were reported by a recipient of one of their forwarded messages. The good news is that this is not the end of the world, and now you know not to foward messages you’ve received from other people. What is considered “spam?” Here are Ms. Netiquette’s Six Simple Signs of Spam!
So, what do you do now? You simply resist the urge to foward e-mails to those folks on your friends list. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
One of my favorite Club Pogo games is Casino Island Blackjack. I love the Bust Protector and Card Up Your Sleeve options, as well as the Blackjack Sharing Bonus. My concern is when I’m playing in another room with other Pogo members.
I’m a badge collector at heart, and in the game, I split whenever I can to increase my chances of moving up the line of volcanoes faster towards the Jackpot Spin. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. My problem is how mean and nasty people get when I split hands such as two fives and two face cards.
I try and get along with most everyone on Pogo, and try to avoid reporting at all if possible. But some of the insults and screaming I get, especially if the split is unsuccessful or causes the dealer to get 20 or 21, has driven me to the point where the vast majority of my playing is now in a Private room with only two computer opponents.
Is it wrong to want to play my hand however I feel like? After all, they’re my tokens, right?
– Living in Splitsville
| Dear Splitsville, You are simply using the options that the game provides you. My guess is that you’ve only experienced mean and nasty people on rare occasions. If you were to count how many times people were polite and generous, I’m sure it would outweigh the few times people have been mean and nasty. It is unfortunate that some people choose to get upset over the way people legitimately play the games. But, these people exist and you will run into them on occasion. I encourage you to continue to enjoy the company of other players and when you run across these poor sports, find a more pleasant room and when you do run into these poor sports, do your best to understand that the problem they have is not with you, but actually with themselves. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I really loved your answer to Real Life Victim about identity theft. I also want think that something else should be posted though. Unfortunately most of the people who are trying to steal credit card numbers, accounts, etc… are very professional, and know what they are doing.
I recently received an email that stated “Your credit card information for you Club Pogo account is not up to date.” It asked me to fill in that information. I knew better because I have received a similar e-mail from another website I belong to and unfortunately, that time I did put in my password, obviously not thinking. It directed me to another page and asked me for the credit card number. Well, when I put my password in because I was caught up in the moment. Then it asked for my credit card number, and I got this gut feeling that something was not right and thank God I did.
The emails you might receive, say from Pogo, may look exactly like Pogo emails, but I want to assure people that they are not. I was so scared that by giving out my password that I had ruined my life, but I changed my password and information after contacting the proper authorities. I really wanted to spread the word because I know that some people would believe it.
These emails are often even from email addresses that look like they could be from Pogo. It all seems so real, but you really have to be careful out in the internet world these days. Well, Pogo isn’t going to lose my credit card information, or delete it, or tear it up! They are not going to lose my password. I really thought this would be important for the world to know, please please think before you leap! Identity theft is very serious and I hope we can all bring it to an end!
Thank you again,
Almost a Victim!
| Dear Almost a Victim, Thank you so much for your warning and your advice. Indeed– there are a lot of people who try to scam others on the Internet. On Pogo, they may try to persuade you to give over your password and they may then drain all your tokens. In some cases, they may want to find out your credit card number. But you can be safe by never giving out your password to anyone, and if you ever receive an e-mail from Pogo asking you to update your credit card, be wary! If it’s around the time you’re due to resubscribe, you may need to update it. But even then, you should not click any links in an e-mail and should come directly to Pogo. From Pogo you can manage your account information from the “Account” button. You were smart and it’s nice of you to pass along what you’ve learned! Ms. Netiquette thanks you on behalf on anyone who benefits from your experience! |
