This update was added on 21 July 2003.
Update: 21st July, two fansites affected.
Warning: It has come to our attention that two large but independent RuneScape fan sites (one run by W13 and another one run by Lightning) have recently been hacked. If you are not a user of the fansites in question you can safely ignore the rest of this message.
Unfortunately we cannot verify or guarantee the security of independent fan websites. Since we don't control these sites there is no guarantee that they are safe to use, or that they are secure. We therefore always recommend you use such independant websites with extreme caution.
1) We have always stated that you should NEVER enter your password ANYWHERE except runescape.com. If you ignored this advice and used your runescape password on a fansite, then your account is in extreme danger, please change your password immediately!
2) We have always stated that you should NEVER download unofficial runescape software from fan-sites, because it may contain a virus or keylogger. If you ignored this advice your runescape account and computer is in danger, since the software may have been modified by the hacker. We recommend you delete it, install anti-virus and firewall software, and change your password.
As always we recommend everyone reads our security tips and doesn't just ignore them!
Our own security has NOT been affected by this incident. Therefore to allow you to chat and talk in safety we are working hard to launch our own official forums. These are not ready yet since we want to make 100% sure they are secure first. When they are ready they will appear here on runescape.com.
Remember: If you receive any emails offering to let you "test" our new forums or any other new features, they are definitely fake, and should be deleted, all our testing is done in-house by our very own QA-team.