Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-11784273-20130902154747/@comment-11490363-20130903160854

Masarujasu wrote: One of the responses from Mobage early on in the piece was that the site was fake. And from that I infer that it is fake in the way the hack tools are fake. I believe the initial damage control method was to deny that one could purchase coins there undetected at all. Hence now it's more problematic to reprimand the player because by doing so it legitimises the site to a wider user base.

The FB pages play a duplicit role in both trying to get the player investigated by Mobage and also in trying to condemn Mobage publicly for allowing such sites to exist (implying they are complicit in the existence of such sites). Ultimately it just advertises the site to the widest user-base possible, which ironically hampers Mobage's ability to take swift action.

I believe that the player was ignorant of the wider ramifications. To some world-weary players the site may appear illegitimate but not everyone is as savvy all the time. The best we can do is educate rather than condemn. She does not strike me as so calculating, and would not be so open with her information if she was. I'm sure the guilty would cover their tracks a lot better. I don't believe at all she deserves the vitriol she has received over the past 2 weeks. I don't think Mobage *could* reprimand her. If Mobage's auditing shows no appearance of unpaid for coins, then as far as they are concerned, there is no crime. if they said the site was fake, maybe they meant the tools, or maybe they meant the cheap coins, I can't say, wording is everything, and I don't know what they said exactly.

If the site does get you coins and does use stolen credit cards, then there is nothing Mobage can do even if they wanted to. As far as Mobage is concerned, no one is doing anything that Mobage can take action on. Mobage has no idea which cards are stolen and which are not at the time of purchase. They are making best effort to prevent stolen cards from being used, but if a hacker finds a hole, well it is a hole for a reason.

Yes the user is likely unaware, and it remains to be proven that the site is using illegal cards, but now that she is aware of the possibility, she can no longer use ignorance as an excuse. I guess the real question is, how much probable cause is enough to get people to avoid the site? In theory none, innocent until proven guilty. But what if we asked them how they got the coins so cheap and they could not provide a decent answer, would that be enough then? For most it would, despite it technically still being a matter of innocent till proven guilty. It becomes subjective at that point. There is no way to have perfect information to make the perfect decision so we must make a best guess.

Has anyone tried to ask them how they do it?