Old Fashioned Stupidity

I'm going to make a huge assumption here. Yes, I know what assuming does. Still, this assumption is one that I think I can make and get away with.

I assume that everyone who plays FFXI with a PC has been to the internet more than once.

With this assumption, I also assume that everyone who has been to the internet has heard of this little thing called phishing. If they haven't heard of this particular term, I'm fairly certain they've heard of theft, hacking, or other indecent activities that can be done through the net.

So someone please tell me why the hell so many people are getting hacked online in this game? This "new wave" of RMT tells that hounds us all every few minutes to verify our account for suspicious activity makes me laugh. They might as well ask us to go to www.allurgilzrbelong2me.com and enter our information. Yet, people are falling for this head over foot every day.

How?

Do you not pay attention when someone with the name Hadexhhgassfew sends you an in-game tell? Are you not aware that Square-Enix's online game site is www.playonline.com, not www.playonline-ffxi.com? It doesn't strike you as odd when someone with a non-GM name tells you to visit a site and verify your account?

Any red flags going off when this stuff happens to you? If not, the please go to your PlayOnline browser, delete your account, and download the latest version of solitaire online. As a matter of fact, don't do that. You might download a virus, and lord help you if that happens.