Not even if they claim to be Jagex staff! The RuneScape chat is not encrypted and therefore must not EVER be used to send sensitive information.

• Don't tell ANYONE your password ever!
• Don't tell others your password recovery-questions
• Don't tell others your real name, email, ICQ number, credit-card details, etc...

Never enter your password or recovery-questions into ANY website other than runescape.com or runescape.co.uk.

You should NOT use the same password at every website you visit, this is very dangerous! Your RuneScape password should be different to all your other passwords, and ONLY used for RuneScape.

When entering your password make sure nobody is standing behind you watching you type it in! You wouldn't believe how often this happens! Please be careful.

There are websites which look very similar to runescape.com but STEAL your password. Don't trust a site just because it looks official.

• RuneScape cheat sites - There are NO RuneScape cheats. These are fakes!
• RuneScape staff sites - We do not have secret sites on which you can become an admin or moderator! These are fakes!
• RuneScape surveys - Our official surveys NEVER require a password
• RuneScape chat boards/rooms - Don't use your RuneScape password on these sites! Use a DIFFERENT password or you will regret it!
• RuneScape test servers - Watch out for fake servers. If in doubt create a NEW account, rather than risking your main character.

There are programs which claim to make RuneScape easier or better, but actually STEAL your password. Not only is using these programs extremely risky, it's also against the rules.

There are many people pretending to be Jagex Staff or impersonating its creators. It is easy to forge emails, so don't trust an email just because it looks official.
Real staff will NEVER ask you for your password!

To help you be sure that correspondance from us is genuine, we send all messages (except password support reminders) to your RuneScape Message Centre. This is accessible from the RuneScape front page, and will require your RuneScape in-game login details (again, please be sure that you are at RuneScape.com).

We only ever send two emails - one for lost-password help and one to say that we have placed a message in your message centre.

• We never send emails saying we need your password to check you aren't cheating!
• We never send emails saying we need your recovery-questions to check you didn't steal the account.
• We never send emails containing attachments of any sort
• We never send emails saying we need your password to let you join the Jagex staff.
• We never send emails offering to let you test new features or servers. These are fakes!

Not even your best friend! A HUGE number of players have lost their account this way. Not only is this an extremly stupid thing to do, it's also against the rules. So we won't help you when you come crying to us!

Most windows distributions are NOT secure unless you take some basic precautions:

• If you use windows get the latest updates and security fixes for your computer from windowsupdate.microsoft.com This is a MUST!
• Install some up to date anti-virus software. I personally use Norton-Antivirus. Alternatively you can get a free virus scanner from www.grisoft.com
• Install a firewall to protect your computer from external attacks. You can get free firewall software from www.zonealarm.com
• Be very careful about what programs you run to avoid a trojan being installed on your machine. For more information about trojans, and how to remove them see www.hackfix.org

If when you visit our website you are seeing multiple pop-up adverts, then it is not likely to be coming from us. All our advertising partners have been given clear and strict instructions not to sell any form of pop up adverts.

If you are seeing popup adverts then they are probably actually coming from a program which you may have picked up from a third-party website, which spawns unwanted adverts whilst you are using the Internet. This type of program is unfortunately common and is known as 'spyware'.

Luckily there are free programs you can use to easily remove this 'spyware'.
Ad-aware is a program from a reputable company called Lavasoft which can help keep your system clean. Ad-aware software is free and is available from their website at www.lavasoft.de.