I think you all know my stance on TSR – but what about paysites/donation sites in general?
My opinion is that ALL paysites are bad ( and illegal according to the EULA ) However some are worse than others and have different levels of risks associated with dealing with them. Comparing TSR to a regular paysite is like comparing the guy who sells questionable DVDs and games in your local mall with a gangster or a mobster.
I cannot tell you what to do and the decision whether or not to subscribe with any of them, including TSR, is entirely up to you. I personally would not support any paysite in any way and prefer to donate to the free community but if you feel what they do is ok, I am not one to judge you. I would only like to make you aware of the risks involved with TSR/paysites/donation sites.
TSR Risks: All these risks are well documented throughout this blog.
- Having your websites, blogs and other online accounts hacked, which includes Email, Facebook, Paypal, Twitter, File host accounts, Photobucket, and many more.
- TSR staff seeing your unencrypted password.
- DDos attacks.
- Defacement of your sites and posts with extreme ‘Goatse’ type porn’ due to image hacks.
- Having your online activity monitored.
- Your Emails and PM’s read.
- Your personal info shared. Paypal, Name, Address , Phone number.
- Contracting a virus.
- Being the subject on online harassment and troll attacks.
- False accusations of piracy, hacking and smear campaigns.
- False reports sent to your webhost/file hosts.
- Broken downloads, or downloads that can harm your game ( Including That doll! )
- Cancellation of subscription at any time without refund.
- Recurring subscription that is hard to cancel.
- No refunds.
- Risk of attack for the smallest of reasons such as the forums you visit, your friends, comments you have made in private, downloading too much, even making comments that are too nice!
- Low quality work with photo-shopped screen shots.
- Bad customer service.
- Paying, but not getting your subscription activated or a refund.
- Being charged more than once for the same subscription. No refund.
Many people report that they have downloaded from TSR for years with no problems, a few of these are quite obviously sock puppets for TSR staff, but some are genuinely telling you the truth. The problem is you do not know you have a problem until it is too late. More people have had problems than not, so the odds are stacked against you. Remember many people in the train surfing community will quite truthfully tell you they have never been killed, that still does not make it safe to train surf. Seriously do not do it.
General Paysite risks: Risks differ from site to site, but in general, risks associated with paysite subscriptions are:
- Low quality work with photo-shopped screen shots.
- Broken downloads, or downloads that can harm your game.
- Site may close at any time, resulting in the loss of your subscription money.
- Your personal info shared with TSR or other paysites.
- Bad customer service
- No refunds.
- Cancellation of your subscription at any time without refund.
On the surface, the most you can lose from a non TSR paysite is your money, as opposed to TSR when the dangers can spill over into your personal life. But please be aware that TSR regularly buy out paysites, thus any info/data you have stored on any paysite runs the risk of falling into TSR hands.
Of course ( before you say it ) it is possible the same could happen with a free site either through a site buyout or a hack, but remember Free sites do not usually require the same information as paysites. certainly not any payment details or your Paypal Email. A lot of free sites also run off forums or word press etc.. which means your password there is encrypted.
On the upside you can ignore a paysite, it will not make them go away, but they won’t harm you. Ignoring TSR is not so easy, and unfortunately there is no current solution to this, other than the hope for a time machine invention, when you wish you had never joined them in the first place.
There is no absolute way to stay 100% safe online anywhere, there are always dangers in any online activity you do, but it pays to be careful with sites where you know there’s a risk, it is up to you to evaluate that risk and whether or not you feel the risk is worth any benefits you may gain.
Omg… I stumbled on your site accidentally and wow. I am so glad! I was seriously considering paying for a TSR subscription recently. This site has really opened my eyes. I had no idea these things were going on. It’s horrifying. I’m concerned because I do have a free account with TSR and there is no guarantee that they won’t keep my info after I change it or delete my account.
I’ve only just started reading this blog and I’ve already decided to stay away from TSR.
Comment by Vee — May 24, 2012 @ 14:02
I subscribed to TSR thru Paypal a week ago, on 7/13/2012. I decided to cancel the subscription theu the cancel subscription option on PayPal…literally five seconds later…when I realized that the subscription option I chose was going to be a recurring one. TSR drafted my account for $13 anyway. I said to myself, ” Ah, what the heck! Use the site for the two months…you’ve already cancelled the recurring subscription anyway”. However, when I tried to access the site, I was denied access. So I decided to contact their Customer Support. I asked them for access to the site, since they’d charged me anyway.
I received a response from someone named Anushka that my purchase was processed as an E-Check, and that I would not get access to downloads from the site until the check “cleared”, on or about 7/18/2012. I left it alone…it was only a $13 transaction, after all.
Today, on the day the “E-check” was supposed to clear, I discovered that someone had been using my debit card ( which is on file with PayPal) to make unauthorized purchases. When I contacted my bank, they told me that the fraudualent transactions all originated from France on the same day, and were ALL internet purchases. This fraudulent activity began just today…again, the day TSR told me my E-check would clear.
I live in the United States, and the only online site I purchase items from is Amazon.com. I never even use PayPal. I opened a PayPal account years ago, but have never actually used their service, except for this recent TSR transaction. Again, I NEVER buy products through the internet.
I really and truly believe someone at TSR was able to access my PayPal account and obtain my debit information. They were probably alerted to my account by the complaint I filed thru their Customer support. I just can’t fathom how anyone was able to get my debit account information. I’ve never been a victim of identity theft/financial fraud EVER in my life. And now, after a shady TSR subscription, I get unauthorized European purchases on my card? To the tune of $500?
I’m very internet savvy…i don’t visit suspicious sites, don’t give my account information thru emails or do anything where someone could have accessed my debit information. The only unusual thing I’ve done online lately was use PayPal for a TSR subscription. Now I see that TSR has been accused of accessing PayPal accounts.
I filed a police report in my state and I am going to report this site. I doubt anything will come of it, but my gut feeling tells me this incident has to do with TSR. I can’t believe a $13 transaction is going to cost me so much trouble…closing out my debit card, purchasing Identity theft protection, disputing the charges with my bank ( it seems they will refund me all the money charged but not until an investigation is done which can take ten days or more). This is an absolute hassle, and I blame it on this vile site.
Do you think my suspicion could have any merit? Should I report the fraudulent activity to PayPal, just in case? Anyway, thanks so much for this site, I wish I’d found it sooner. I hope all Simmers out there avoid this disgusting site like the plague!
Reply: Hi Skye, It is certainly not the first time they have been accused of this, and it seems the more illegal activities they get away with, the more crimes they commit. If you, ( like me ), never buy products over the internet and have only used Paypal once – which was for TSR, who are known hackers/fraudsters, I agree it is highly likely, if not certain, they were involved -( not forgetting you made a ‘complaint’ to them and complainers of TSR have a nasty habit of getting hacked. )
Something was very odd with this situation from the onset, your subscription should have been activated immediately if you paid via PayPal. The site did have some subscription problems due to a power outage on the 29th June, but this only affected credit card payments made on that one night and it did not affect any Paypal payments. I am confused why Anoeska dealt with it in this way.
I am also not sure of Swedish law, but a lot of European countries have a statutory cancellation period ranging from 3-7 days depending on the country. The USA also has a 3 day ‘cooling-off period’ under which you may be covered. You should have had the right to cancel, although I am sure the $13 is the least of your worries at the moment. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro03.shtm
Good on you for filing a police report! They can be traced, no matter what proxy they used and you really need to keep chasing up on that report. There is also an FBI page you may find useful, it has tips about internet credit card fraud and to the right of the page it has links of how to report these crimes to the FBI.
Yes, you should absolutely report this to PayPal, and anyone else you can think of. They should not get away with doing this to you.
I am so sorry this has happened to you, and I hope you do get your money back as soon as possible, this is a dreadful thing to happen to anyone, people like this are truly the scum of the earth, I hope they get caught soon – and when they do, make sure you sue their ass. -Coconut
Comment by Skye Medina — July 18, 2012 @ 23:59