Victims are threatened that their accounts will be disabled and they'll be legally pursued

Dec 18, 2012 15:50 GMT  ·  By

Players of the MMORPG game RuneScape are advised to be on the lookout for bogus notifications entitled “Runescape Real World Trading Account Notice.”

According to Hoax Slayer, the emails, which purport to come from Jagex – the company that develops and publishes the game – inform recipients that they’ve been found to trade virtual items outside of the game environment.

They’re threatened that their accounts will be temporarily or permanently disabled and that they will even be legally pursued if they don’t complete a so-called security form within 48 hours.

Users who click on the links are presented with a webpage where they’re asked to hand over their login and other personal details.

Jagex is aware of the scam emails and it has issued an alert to warn users. They also provide some important advice on how to tell if an email is real or fake, and a number of phishing email examples.

Here’s what the latest scam emails look like, so you’ll know what to look out for:

“Hi, We have strong evidence that you may have attempted a transfer of RuneScape accounts or traded virtual items outside of the game environment.

Real-world trading destroys the economy of RuneScape, violates your agreement with us, and any player that continues to engage in the illegal activity has no place in our community.

All of your accounts, main and otherwise, are now on our watch list and will be monitored for real-world trading. Regardless of who you are or how long you've been with us, if you decide to real-world trade ever again we will have no hesitation in:

(1) permanently removing your account from our wonderful community in order to protect Jagex's rights, and (2) naming you as a defendant in Jagex Limited v. John Does, which is a lawsuit based on antitrust law violations that is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

[...]

In addition, new black marks have been added to your RuneScape account. If left unchallenged your account will be temporarily or permanently disabled.

Please complete the following security form to monitor your account's status or to appeal the infractions you have recieved:

[Link]

Please note: If we do not receive a response from you within 48 hours, we will have no other choice than to disable your account.

Sincerely, Jagex.”