Officer Webkinz, We'd Like to Report a Robbery!
WANTED: WEBKINZ THIEF!
It all started innocent enough...
For Ms. E's 6th birthday, I bought her a Webkinz. Although she had never mentioned them before, I knew they were all the rage with kids about her age and I wanted her to be in on the fun. When she opened her present, she did not look at all thrilled with the pink poodle stuffed animal - - the fuschia Crocs were more to her liking. My 7 year old niece recognized the Webskinz tag immediately and excitedly explained about the virtual world that came along with the stuffed toy.
Miss E was definitely not addicted as some kids, but she decorated Pinky's room and bought her a wardrobe of clothes and an adjoining yard. She enjoyed playing some of the arcade games and loved shopping in the W Shop (my shopping addiction is apparently a dominant gene, LOL).
I liked the real life aspect of the virtual world where you need to feed and care for your pet to keep it healthy and earn money if you wanted some to spend. In addition, the website appeared to be safe as only specified phrases are allowed to be transmitted to others and you can't even communicate with someone else unless they authorize it. Philantrophy is also promoted as you can gift items to others via e-mail. My niece apparently has quite a future in philantrophic endeavors as she gifted Miss E numerous things including a swimming pool and a color tv.
Well, all was right in Webkinz World until this weekend, when Miss E logged in and discovered that she had been virtually robbed of all of her virtual possessions. Pinky was safe and unharmed but everything was gone except for the wallpaper and flooring in her room and the pool in her yard. All of her Webkinz cash was gone except for a lowly $9.00.
I'm assuming that she must have innocently told one of her friends her password thinking it was her ID, and another evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate heard her and wrote it down. Then that evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate probably logged in as her and gifted him or herself all of Miss E's things.
It's a sad commentary on today's society that this would happen in an innocent child's game, but maybe Webkinz World is more real than it appears - - it has a criminal element just like our world. I've now changed her password to something that she doesn't know, so hopefully this won't happen again.
And there is somewhat of a silver lining to this whole experience. After Miss E told her friend, Nicole, about the robbery, Nicole gifted her with a new Ballerina bed so that Pinky wouldn't have to sleep on the tile floor. Good prevails in Webkinz World! And wait until my very philantrophic niece gets wind of the crime!
It all started innocent enough...
For Ms. E's 6th birthday, I bought her a Webkinz. Although she had never mentioned them before, I knew they were all the rage with kids about her age and I wanted her to be in on the fun. When she opened her present, she did not look at all thrilled with the pink poodle stuffed animal - - the fuschia Crocs were more to her liking. My 7 year old niece recognized the Webskinz tag immediately and excitedly explained about the virtual world that came along with the stuffed toy.
Miss E was definitely not addicted as some kids, but she decorated Pinky's room and bought her a wardrobe of clothes and an adjoining yard. She enjoyed playing some of the arcade games and loved shopping in the W Shop (my shopping addiction is apparently a dominant gene, LOL).
I liked the real life aspect of the virtual world where you need to feed and care for your pet to keep it healthy and earn money if you wanted some to spend. In addition, the website appeared to be safe as only specified phrases are allowed to be transmitted to others and you can't even communicate with someone else unless they authorize it. Philantrophy is also promoted as you can gift items to others via e-mail. My niece apparently has quite a future in philantrophic endeavors as she gifted Miss E numerous things including a swimming pool and a color tv.
Well, all was right in Webkinz World until this weekend, when Miss E logged in and discovered that she had been virtually robbed of all of her virtual possessions. Pinky was safe and unharmed but everything was gone except for the wallpaper and flooring in her room and the pool in her yard. All of her Webkinz cash was gone except for a lowly $9.00.
I'm assuming that she must have innocently told one of her friends her password thinking it was her ID, and another evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate heard her and wrote it down. Then that evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate probably logged in as her and gifted him or herself all of Miss E's things.
It's a sad commentary on today's society that this would happen in an innocent child's game, but maybe Webkinz World is more real than it appears - - it has a criminal element just like our world. I've now changed her password to something that she doesn't know, so hopefully this won't happen again.
And there is somewhat of a silver lining to this whole experience. After Miss E told her friend, Nicole, about the robbery, Nicole gifted her with a new Ballerina bed so that Pinky wouldn't have to sleep on the tile floor. Good prevails in Webkinz World! And wait until my very philantrophic niece gets wind of the crime!
posted by Preppy Mom at 6:51 AM
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